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Tigers roll by Lincoln
1/22/2012
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
Midway through the conference schedule last season, the Fort Hays State University men's basketball team, in contention for an MIAA title, had back-to-back road trips to Lincoln (Mo.) University and University of Nebraska-Omaha on a Saturday and Wednesday, respectively.
Fort Hays easily won both contests, but then had to play Northwest Missouri State University, one of the conference's weaker squads, at home three days after the UNO victory.
Fort Hays, fatigued from the road trip, lost.
"That was the game that probably took us away from a chance to win a conference championship," coach Mark Johnson said.
This season, a similar scenario existed. On Jan. 14 and Wednesday, Fort Hays won key road games against Pittsburg State University and Emporia State University.
Then, FHSU faced Lincoln, one of the league's lesser squads, at home Saturday. Johnson reminded his team about last season and cautioned them about a letdown.
Fort Hays didn't play its best, but managed to not replicate last year's home loss to Northwest. The Tigers led all contest, and won 78-63 at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
"The guys who were here last year remembered that, and we really wanted to close up this little three-game week that we have had," senior forward Matt Simmons said. "I think everybody stepped up tonight."
Fort Hays, ranked No. 25 in NCAA Division II, won its third straight contest, and earned its first home victory since Dec. 17. The Tigers improved to 13-4, 7-4 in the MIAA and remain one game out of first place. Lincoln dropped to 3-13, 3-8 MIAA.
"I thought for the most part, we were playing hard, you just worry about the sharpness," Johnson said. "You can't have excuses. If you want to do good, you've got to do it. If it was easy to be good, every team in America would be good. No team would have a losing record. It takes hard work, but also besides the hard work, it takes focus. At times, we struggled to focus."
Senior Karron McKenzie, the team's leading scorer, had just two points, while senior point guard Kendrick Morse had only three.
"I don't feel like it was a mental or a physical thing," Johnson said. "I think our bodies were moving. When you are not sharp, you just don't play well. I don't know, a couple of us still weren't quite over (the road trip), and weren't as sharp as they needed to be."
But four players -- Simmons, Omar McDade, Lance Russell and Tyrone Phillips -- enjoyed big performances.
Simmons collected 13 points, 16 rebounds and four assists for his fourth double-double of the year.
Russell set his career high with 17 points, while McDade (14 points) and Phillips (team-high 23 points) were each one off their career bests. They helped Fort Hays build a 16-point lead late in the first half and lead 33-19 at intermission.
Lincoln junior guard Cedric Ridle had all 19 of his team's points in the first half and finished with a game-high 38 on 15-of-29 shooting.
"Luckily, we had those four guys to get that done," Johnson said. "At times, I thought we played pretty well and did some good things, at times we didn't. It was just a very inconsistent performance."
Simmons, known for his rebounding, defense and passing ability, enjoyed his most points in a single game since Dec. 17 and finished one off his season-high for assists. He had his third consecutive double-digit rebounding performance and 10th of the season.
"It's not really about points for me," he said.
"I like to come in and do whatever I can to help the team win. If that means score zero points and grab 40 rebounds, it doesn't matter to me. I will set as many screens as it takes, go get as many rebounds as I can, whatever helps the team win."
Phillips, who also helped the team start strong in Wednesday's victory versus ESU, enjoyed 14 first half points.
He finished 8-of-14 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
"He has got a little bit of quickness and what he can do with his quickness is get himself open," Johnson said. "Not necessarily off the bounce, but just off screens, moving."
Russell and McDade had combined for four double figure performances before Saturday, three by McDade. Russell finished 7-of-10 from the field, while McDade was 5-of-12 with a team-high seven assists and one turnover.
"At the Emporia game and then today, (Omar) has played some of his better basketball," Johnson said. "...Lance was really big in the second half and played well."
Fort Hays will have a week off before they travel to Northwest Missouri State University next Saturday for the start of a three-game road trip.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |