Fort Hays State (8-8, 8-8 MIAA) at
Rogers State (7-9, 7-9 MIAA)
Thursday, February 11, 2021 - 7:30 p.m.
Claremore, Oklahoma - Claremore Expo Center
Radio: KJLS (103.3-FM)
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Coming off an 89-79 win at Central Oklahoma on Wednesday, the Tigers take a drive up Route 66 in Oklahoma to Claremore where they will face Rogers State on Thursday night. The Tigers enter the contest 8-8 on the season, while Rogers State is 7-9. Tipoff is set for 7:30 pm.
The Tigers are looking for a regular season sweep of the Hillcats after winning the first meeting between the teams in Hays on December 20 by a score of 78-71. Quinten Rock led the Tigers in that game with 24 points, doing half of his scoring damage from the free-throw line where he was 12-of-13, and the other half beyond the 3-point line where he was 4-of-5. Jared Vitztum had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Alvin Thompson added 17 points and Bjarni Jonsson had a season-high 11 points. Ricardo Lynch led Rogers State with 16 points.
Rogers State holds a 2-1 advantage in the young series history with Fort Hays State. The teams met for the first two times in history last season as Rogers State claimed both meetings. FHSU looks to even the count on Thursday. Rogers State joined the MIAA prior to the 2019-20 season.
The Tigers drained 17 3-point field goals in their win at Central Oklahoma on Wednesday. That matched their highest output in an MIAA game, also accomplished at Emporia State on January 16, 2019. The program record is 19, set in 1996. The Tigers also started to threaten the NCAA Division II record of 13 consecutive 3-point field goals made (set by Fayetteville State in 2020), as they opened the game 9-of-9 beyond the arc before their first miss. FHSU went on to finish 17-of-26 for the game.
With the win on Wednesday, the Tigers jumped into a tie for seventh place in the MIAA standings. The top eight teams qualify for the MIAA Tournament this season. The Tigers have six games remaining in the regular season, with three on the road and three at home left on the slate.
Jared Vitztum leads the Tigers at 18.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. On Wednesday, he became the 22nd player in FHSU men's program history to score 1,000 points. Just 16 rebounds shy of 600 for his career, he is looking to become just the eighth player in men's program history to have at least 1,000 points and 600 rebounds. Vitztum leads the MIAA in rebounds per game and he is tied for the NCAA Division II lead in double-doubles with eight this season.
Quinten Rock averaged 21 points over the last two contests and has a season average of 13 points per game. Kaleb Hammeke averaged 15.5 points over the last two games and averages 11.4 for the season. Rock and Hammeke are neck and neck in assists with the former averaging 4.1 per game (66 total) and the latter 4.0 per game (64 total). Nyjee Wright is also back in the mix in the Tiger backcourt after missing the first 13 games of the season. He gave the Tigers three crucial 3-pointers in the second half of the win at Central Oklahoma and produced his first double-figure scoring game of the season with 11 points.
Rogers State has four players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Devin Pullum at 15.2 points per contest. He is the team leader in 3-point field goals made this season with 30.
FHSU Athletics