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Another solid performance in Tiger victory
1/17/2010
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
PITTSBURG -- The Pittsburg State University men's basketball team's pregame scouting report said Fort Hays State University junior forward Corbin Kuntzsch is currently the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association's best player.
Kuntzsch, the reigning conference Player of the Week, supported the Gorillas' analysis with another solid performance. In the first half, Kuntzsch delivered 21 points and helped Fort Hays pick up a 69-56 victory at PSU's John Lance Arena. Overall, Kuntzsch finished 9-of-10 from the field, including 6-of-6 from 3-point range, for 24 points.
Defensively, he held Pittsburg State senior Spencer Magana, the conference's fourth-leading scorer at 17.9 points per contest, to five points on 2-of-8 shooting.
"That was phenomenal on both ends of the floor tonight," Tiger coach Mark Johnson said. "Offensively, I think in the first half we ran one play for him to get a shot. Everything else, he just does it on his own. He finds a way to get open and he works so hard. Besides that, tremendous performance offensively. Spencer Magana is a very good player. He was the key. We talked about he was the guy we had to slow down."
Fort Hays controlled the game all contest and led by more 20 points most of the second half. Pittsburg State, led by 14 points from freshman forward JaVon McGee and 13 by junior Mo Gunn, closed it to 14 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining. It marked another game that FHSU let a big lead slip late.
"Coach said that we shut down," senior guard Willie Hassell said. "I guess that's what we did. We got too comfortable with the lead and I guess we shut down. I guess we thought they were just going to bow down because we were up so much. They just kept fighting."
Still, Fort Hays, ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division II, moved to 15-1 overall, 9-0 in the conference. The Tigers have won all but one conference game by double digits.
Fort Hays shot 57.8 percent from the field, the best for a single contest by the Tigers this season.
In addition, they hit 60 percent (12-of-20) on 3-pointers, also the year's top mark. Three players scored in double figures, Kuntzsch, Hassell (12 points, game-high eight assists) and junior Dominique Jones (10 points).
Senior forward Tim Peintner started for the first time since Dec. 30 after suffering an ankle injury and added four points.
"Corbin one night, me one night, Dominique one night, the list goes on," Hassell said. "I think coach just put the right bunch of players together. You can go to anyone. Teams have a hard time with that. It's just pick your poison."
Pittsburg State, in the last season of the 15-year Gene Iba era, is tied for last in the MIAA at 7-9 overall, 1-8 in the conference. In the first half, Kuntzsch -- with his brother, Levi, a PSU freshman wide receiver on the football team, in attendance -- helped FHSU jump out to a 12-3 lead and never trail. After Peintner hit a jumper for a 4-0 lead, Kuntzsch extended the lead to 7-2 on a 3. He drained another trey off when he came off a screen at the top of the key. He hit a jumper off a pass from Jones later in the half and tacked on two treys late in the half that moved the lead to 35-19.
Kuntzsch, a three-year starter, has scored in double figures in every conference contest and averages 17.7 points a game in MIAA play.
He leads FHSU and ranks among the MIAA leaders in points, rebounds and minutes played. Defensively, Kuntzsch has contained several top players, including Magana, who was held to his lowest point total of the year.
"We couldn't let him (Magana) get going and have a big night for us," Johnson said.
"We didn't feel like they had other weapons to beat us. Corbin is doing it on offense, plus he is giving us a tremendous effort on the defensive end. Magana really struggled all night long. We never gave him a look. That is a heck of an effort. As good as the offense was, that defense kind of goes unnoticed. It was superb on both ends."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |