FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State moved to 17-8 overall and 9-7 in the MIAA, needing overtime to defeat Newman on Saturday . Down three with three minutes to go, the Tigers were able to get the game tied and force overtime, then prevailed by a score of 91-83. Newman fell to 5-20 overall and 1-15 in the MIAA.
The Tigers had a battle on their hands when the Jets came out of the gate hot, building a 15-point lead of 29-14 in the first half. However, the Tigers went on a 19-6 run to get within two of the Jets by halftime, 35-33.
After holding an early four-point lead in the game, the Tigers finally moved back in front of the Jets at the 17:54 mark of the second half. Eventually, the Tigers held a seven-point lead with about 14 and 10 minutes to go in regulation, but the pesky Jets would not go away and moved back in front by four with an 11-0 run. The rest of regulation was a back-and-forth battle. Juju Ramirez had a stick-back bucket with 1:20 to go to get the Tigers within one, then Dan Mukuna tied the game on a free throw with 41 seconds to go. Both teams had a chance to score after, but the game wound up going to overtime.
A swing of momentum went the way of the Tigers following a technical foul by the Jets early in overtime. The Tigers went on a 9-0 run following the incident. Kyle Grill hit a three to put the Tigers on top, Ramirez had another bucket on a fast break, and Grill splashed a three to put the Tigers up six. Newman never got closer than four points the rest of the way.
The Tigers had five players score in double figures, led by Jahvari Martino's 23. It was a new high for him as a Tiger. He was 10-of-16 from the field and 2-of-2 at the free-throw line. Mukuna finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Grill had 18 points, which included four 3-point field goals. Lucas Hammeke added 13 points and four assists, while Muhamed Kante had 10 points. FHSU finished 53.7 percent as a team from the field.
Cyrus Shaw led Newman with 30 points, hitting 10 field goals, which included four 3-point field goals. He was 6-of-8 at the free-throw line. Thatcher McClure and Sam Somerhalder each had 12 for the Jets. Newman shot 46 percent as a team from the field and hit 12 3-point field goals.
The Tigers go on the road next week to Missouri Southern (Thur.) and Pittsburg State (Sat.) for their final two regular season road games.