FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State picked up its first regular season sweep of Northwest Missouri State since the 2012-13 season on Saturday (Jan. 18). The Tigers defeated the Bearcats 72-65 to improve to 12-4 overall and 5-2 in the MIAA. NWMSU fell to 4-13 overall and 2-6 in the MIAA. The win gave FHSU a perfect 3-0 homestand.
Even though Fort Hays State jumped out to a 10-point lead twice early on, starting the game on a 12-2 run, Northwest Missouri State would not go away throughout the afternoon. The Bearcats battled back to even with the Tigers on a 10-0 run after the Tigers led 14-4 and took three one-point leads in the opening half before FHSU eventually got back ahead and led 33-29 at halftime. A 7-0 burst by the Tigers took them from one point down to six up before the four-point advantage at the break.
A 7-0 run by the Tigers from the 15:16 to 13:46 marks in the second half pushed the Tiger lead back out to 10. Another 7-0 burst from the 7:41 to 6:07 marks took a six-point lead out to 13, the largest of the game, capped on a layup made by Traejon Davis.
The Tigers were up 12 with 4:11 to play, but a pair of quick 3-point field goals from Marcus Glock immediately brought the Bearcats back within striking distance with 3:00 to play. A pair of free throws 30 seconds later brought the lead down to just four. However, Davis had the big answer for FHSU by knocking down a corner 3-point field goal with 53 seconds to play, pushing the lead to seven and making it a three-possession game. Davis closed any further hope by making a pair of free throws with 16 seconds to play to produce the final margin of seven.
Davis finished with a season-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. He was 2-of-3 beyond the 3-point line and his two free throws late were his only attempts at the stripe. Kaleb Hammeke added 16 points and a team-high four assists. Shaun Riley picked up his second double-double of the season with 15 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Kyle Grill also reached double figures in scoring with 10 points.
Glock led the Bearcats in scoring by going 5-of-8 beyond the 3-point line and 3-of-3 at the free-throw line for 18 points. Byron Alexander had a near-perfect shooting day for NWMSU going 4-of-4 from the field and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line for 14 points. Trey Moala also reached double figures with 11 points.
FHSU outscored NWMSU by 14 on field goals, but NWMSU had seven more free throws made. FHSU scored 38 of its 44 2-point shots inside the paint. FHSU finished at 47.5 percent from the field overall in the game, while holding NWMSU to 39.6 percent from the field.
The Tigers moved into a second-place tie with Northeastern State at 5-2 in MIAA play. Both are two games back of undefeated and No. 1 nationally ranked Washburn, which is 17-0 overall and 7-0 in MIAA play.
UP NEXT
FHSU will be on the road for its next four games, starting with a trip to Oklahoma next week when it takes on Rogers State (Thur.) and Central Oklahoma (Sat.). It will be the only meeting of the regular season with both schools.