Can't
get to the game? Don't worry, we've got ya covered.
Tiger men win seventh straight; No. 1 Central up next
1/3/2010
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. -- For the Fort Hays State University men's basketball team, Saturday's game against sub-.500 Truman State (Mo.) University was the ideal "trap game," the last contest before going against No. 1 University of Central Missouri on Monday night.
However, Fort Hays avoided the upset and delivered a solid performance in a 71-47 road victory on Saturday afternoon at Pershing Arena. The Tigers led all game and the 24-point margin marked the biggest for FHSU this season in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play.
"You have to play hard, focused and well every night if you are going to win," Johnson said. "To this point in conference play, I think our guys have really done a good job of playing hard and being focused and playing well."
Fort Hays, ranked No. 13 in NCAA Division II, moved to 11-1 overall and 5-0 in conference, while Truman dropped to 3-10, 1-5 in the conference. FHSU and Central remain the lone unbeaten squads in MIAA play.
The Tigers will travel to Central Missouri for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff Monday.
"Coach Johnson was really preaching about that," senior forward Ryan Herrman said. "Everyone was really looking forward to the Central game, them being No. 1 in the nation, but Coach Johnson just kept on preaching we can't overlook these guys, but on any given night, we can get beat if we don't play hard."
Fort Hays continued to win games by big margins and consistently score. Last season, the Tigers finished 20-9 overall and 12-8 in the MIAA. They averaged 70 points per contest and won five conference games by double figures. This season, FHSU has averaged 80 points a contest and won its first five MIAA contests by 11, 12, 13, 13 and 24 points.
"This is one of the more talented teams that I have been on, we just have a lot of great scorers," Herrman said.
Saturday's win came in a cold gym in front of a sparse crowd. The Tigers played in front of just 456 fans, just the second time they've had fewer than 1,000 fans for a contest -- and far fewer than the 3,820 FHSU had for its victory against Washburn University on Wednesday at Gross Memorial Coliseum. Truman, though, has been solid at home, with a 3-4 record.
"I was really proud of the guys, the way they responded," Johnson said. "No matter what Truman's record is, this is a hard place to play and anytime you get out of here with a win, you have got to be happy."
In addition, Truman State runs an offense that Herrman called "a whole different style" than what FHSU normally sees.
"They are more just a slow it down, work the whole shot clock and most of the teams in the MIAA, it's pretty fast paced," Herrman said. "This is a whole different game. It's just tough to get that mindset where you have to guard for 35 seconds. We did a nice job tonight doing that."
Both teams had trouble scoring early, as Fort Hays took an early 15-2 lead and held an 18-5 advantage with 9:15 left in the first half. The Tigers held a double-digit lead nearly all contest, including a 33-15 margin at intermission. Fort Hays shot 50 percent in the first half, while Truman made just 23 percent.
"I thought the first half, especially, I thought that we played really hard on the defensive end and any time you play well defensively, I think it leads to good offense," Johnson said.
In the second half, Truman cut it to 37-31, but FHSU enjoyed an 11-0 run. The run started with a pass from junior guard Dominique Jones to junior forward Dijon Smith for a dunk.
"I was really proud of the guys with the way they responded when it got to 37-31," Johnson said. "We really took off from there."
Later in the half, senior guard Orrin Greer delivered a behind-the-back pass to Jones for a layup. Jones led four Tigers in double figures with 18 points. Junior Corbin Kuntzsch collected 14, while senior Willie Hassell and Greer had 10 each.
"We just stepped it up and we had a lot of guys step up their games," Herrman said.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |