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Tiger men win OT thriller
1/19/2012
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
EMPORIA -- One hallmark of the Fort Hays State University's men's basketball team under 11th-year coach Mark Johnson is winning close games, often in the final seconds. Johnson's victories in close games have helped FHSU reach five NCAA Division II tournaments and finish in the top-three in the MIAA in the last three seasons.
This year's squad, though, didn't have a close, last-second victory until Wednesday's 72-67 overtime win against Emporia State University at White Auditorium.
"We are starting to figure out how we need to win," Johnson said.
"With a whole new team at times, it takes awhile and hopefully guys are buying into what we need to do. We have to slow the game down."
The win moved FHSU to 2-1 in games decided by six points or fewer; the other win was a five-point victory at Truman State (Mo.) University that didn't come down to the final buzzer.
"It reminded me of last year," senior Karron McKenzie said. "We felt like we are making great strides and becoming a good team. I felt like we all contributed and we executing and we playing like a good team rather than individuals. Like last year was a good team. We won close games because it was a team effort. Now, we finally getting that team effort going."
Fort Hays, ranked No. 25 in NCAA Division II, improved to 12-4, 6-4 MIAA. Emporia State dropped to 8-8, 4-6 MIAA. The Tigers moved to 4-1 on the road in conference play, the league's best road mark in conference games. After three straight defeats, FHSU has rebounded with two straight road victories. Fort Hays won at Emporia for just the second time in the last six seasons.
"We thought everything was going to go downhill, but it's not," McKenzie said. "We didn't give up. We stayed fighting and we are still in the race."
At the halfway point of conference play, FHSU -- despite three home losses and two defeats by at least 16 points -- is one game out of first place. Three teams are tied at 7-3 in the closely packed league.
"It's more about when you play than who you play. You look, Southwest Baptist played us at the right time. Central Missouri played us at the right time. We played them at the wrong time," Johnson said, referring to a pair of losses. "That's kind of how things go. It's about catching people at the right time. I think when you are so jumbled up there and everybody is fairly close, I don't think there is great separation in talent and teams."
FHSU, similar to last Saturday's victory at Pittsburg State, slowed the game down, worked for quality shots and kept mistakes to a minimum. Four players scored in double figures, led by 15 points, six assists and no turnovers from senior guard Moses Dayee. Overall, FHSU had just 10 turnovers.
Fort Hays led by 11, the contest's biggest margin, with 14:27 left, but ESU tied the game with 10.3 seconds left at 62 on two free throws from junior Chris Sights. Sights and senior Troy Pierce led Emporia State with 15 points.
FHSU briefly lost the lead in overtime at 67-66, but went on a 5-0 run to put the game out of reach. Dayee sank a free throw, junior point Kendrick Morse hit a floater, and McKenzie drove to the lane for a layup. It marked the Tigers' first overtime game since a three-overtime home win against Pittsburg State University in the 2007-08 season.
Fort Hays will play host to Lincoln (Mo.) University at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
"Did we do some things down the stretch to probably force us to go to overtime?," Johnson said. "Yeah, we missed some free throws, made a couple poor decisions, but I am just really proud of our guys. When you kind of let one get away from you and then you go to overtime, to be on the road and still find a way to win, I think says a lot about the makeup of our team."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |