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No. 5 Tiger men win again
1/21/2010
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
EMPORIA -- Ryan Herrman and Tim Peintner, the only four-year players on the Fort Hays State University men's basketball team, realized the Tigers had never won at Emporia State University in their first three seasons.
On Wednesday, FHSU snapped the skid with a 69-65 victory at White Auditorium, the Tigers' closest win of the year. Led by big nights from junior guard Dominique Jones, Peintner and Herrman, Fort Hays trailed midway through the second half before four straight 3-pointers helped Fort Hays collect the victory.
FHSU, ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division II, completed the first half of conference play at 16-1 overall, 10-0 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. White Auditorium was the last MIAA gym the Tigers hadn't won at since they switched conferences four years ago.
"You play in so many games, it's like, 'How do you not win at least once in one place in four years?" Peintner said. "It's nice to walk out of here. It was nice to get a win. It's a tough place to play here."
Fort Hays, which had won eight of its first nine conference games by double figures, struggled all contest. FHSU had 19 turnovers, tied for the second-most all season, and never led by more than nine points.
"We weren't very good tonight and we were our own worst enemy whether it be from the foul line, turning it over, not focused, so it's disappointing in that fact," Fort Hays coach Mark Johnson said. "The real positive of it all is you come out and you are on the road against a team really excited to play you, gives great effort and feel like you are not even close to playing at your best and you still won the game.
"I think that says a lot about our guys. I thought we won the game tonight by showing toughness tonight in the last six minutes on defense and hitting huge shots in the last six minutes," he added.
The 5-foot-9 Jones led the Tigers with a career-high 29 points, including 8-of-14 from the field and 6-of-10 from the 3-point line. It marked Jones' eighth straight double-figure contest; his previous high game this year was 28 points.
"I am just trying to step up whenever my team needs me," Jones said. "We've got depth. We have a whole bunch of great guys that work real hard. Some nights, they are keying on certain people. Tonight, they keyed a lot on the big guys, so I got a lot of shots."
Fort Hays, led by 11 first-half points from Jones, led 32-28 at intermission against the Hornets, an injury-plagued team who saw senior forward Jeremiah Box return after missing eight games. Box finished with 12 points.
"We have gotten used to playing shorthanded," Emporia State coach David Moe said.
In the second half, Jones, who comes off the bench, didn't enter until 16:34 left in the contest. By then, Emporia State (7-10 overall, 3-7 MIAA) had taken a 36-32 lead.
Peintner tied the game at 36 with two of his seven points. In addition, Peintner, a returning all-conference player, collected eight rebounds and played 28 minutes, his best production since he hurt his ankle Dec. 30 against Washburn University. Peintner has lost some confidence and said he "isn't sure" what he can do. However, he labeled Wednesday "by far" his best performance in the last month.
"I kind of took for granted my ability to leap a little bit," he said. "It's a lot different. I have to play such a different game. I have to think a lot more now instead of reacting, which is tough now. The word is just frustrated. I've been frustrated since it has happened. I've never had anything like this, really."
Jones, who ranks second in the conference and leads the Tigers in 3-point field goal percentage (50.7), sank a trey for a 39-38 lead.
"He makes some guys look silly sometimes when they get out there and guard him," Peintner said. "He is really fitting into the point guard role. I am proud of him. He has come a long ways."
Late in the second half, Jones hit three of FHSU's four straight 3s and helped the Tigers take a 63-54 lead. Jones hit a wide-open trey before Peintner nailed a 3, his first since Dec. 18. Then, Jones followed up with back-to-back 3-pointers.
"We obviously broke down defensively during that little stretch," Moe said. "I hadn't been subbing much. We probably got tired. ... We make some mistakes in transition and he got wide open shots."
Overall, Jones leads the Tigers in scoring at 14.2 points per game, including averaging 18.9 points in his last seven contests.
"He is confident," Johnson said. "He wants the ball in late-game situations. I think as time has gone on, the coaches want him to have the ball and his teammates want him to have the ball. He is a real crafty guy. I can say that over and over. He is a little guy. He is not overly athletic. We've got quicker guys on our team. We've got taller guys on our team. He just finds a way to get himself open. He just finds a way to get shots and make plays."
Herrman came off the bench to score seven points and grab a game-high 10 rebounds, one off his season high. Herrman also contained ESU junior Adam Holthaus, who led the Hornets with 20 points.
"Ryan, not only rebounding the ball, but defensively on Holthaus, he did the best job of anybody," Johnson said. "I thought his effort tonight was tremendous."
With 39 seconds remaining, Herrman -- who had missed four straight free throws -- hit 1-of-2 foul shots to push the Tiger lead to 66-61 and secure a long-awaited win at Emporia State.
"We kind of looked at each other and were like, 'Man, it's kind of the first time that we have won here,' " Peintner said.
Fort Hays will be at home Wednesday to play University of Nebraska-Omaha in MIAA action.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |