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Tiger men suffer first MIAA loss
1/31/2010
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
MARYVILLE, Mo. -- Through the season's first 18 games, the Fort Hays State University men's basketball team developed two positive trends. The Tigers continually hit shots, especially in crunch time at the end of games, baskets that helped the Tigers win four games by 10 points or fewer.
In addition, Fort Hays ranked as one of the country's top defensive teams, ranking among the nation's leaders in defensive field goal percentage and defensive 3-point percentage. The strong play helped FHSU start 17-1 overall and 11-0 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, move to No. 3 in NCAA Division II and earned the top seed in the first South Central Regional poll.
On Saturday, the Tigers deviated from the norm and suffered their first loss of the season, 62-59, to Northwest Missouri State University in a slow-down game at Bearcat Arena.
Fort Hays set a season-low for points and field goal percentage (36.2), and missed three shots in the final 10 seconds that would have given FHSU a lead or tied the score.
"We have been fortunate that every time we have been put in this situation offensively we have come up and made the big shots," Tiger coach Mark Johnson said. "Tonight we just couldn't get it done. We shot it very poorly and we didn't make the shots we had to down the stretch which we have done every other time. That's just going to happen. You play with fire, you are going to get burned."
The Tigers, trying to become the first MIAA team to go undefeated in conference play in 43 years, dropped to 17-2, 11-1 in MIAA play. Northwest Missouri improved to 10-10, 5-9 in the conference.
"They did a great job of just frustrating our offense," FHSU junior Corbin Kuntzsch said. "We didn't hit shots tonight and that was partly due to some of their defense they were playing. But we got to come ready to play every game.
Our effort was there, but our execution wasn't and you need to have both when everybody is going to give you their best shot."
In addition, Northwest shot 42.2 percent from the field -- only one conference team has shot above 43 percent against FHSU.
In December, Northwest shot 37.5 percent when Fort Hays won 78-66 at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
"I thought we had some defensive breakdowns and getting split off penetration way too many times," Johnson said. "Offensively, taking some poor shots, having some critical turnovers and not executing."
The entire game was within 12 points, and no squad held more than a six-point lead.
The score was tied 15 times, while the lead changed on 20 occasions. Tiger junior forward Dijon Smith paced FHSU with 17 points off the bench. Northwest Missouri junior guard Elijah Allen led the Bearcats with 24 points and senior Girod Adams (nine points) and freshman DeShaun Cooper (four points, three assists) continually drove inside off the dribble.
"Our biggest thing is we have got to get back to guarding people," Kuntzsch said. "If we had been guarding them like we should have, we would have held them to 50 points tonight.
With 2:02 left, Fort Hays junior guard Dominique Jones drove in for a short jumper that gave the Tigers a 57-55 lead.
However, Northwest freshman Bryston Williams gave the Bearcats a 58-57 lead when he hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 73 seconds left. FHSU senior guard Willie Hassell responded with a long jumper for a 59-58 Tiger lead, but Cooper hit two free throws for a Bearcat lead.
With 13 seconds left, Jones missed a wide-open eight-foot jumper from the right side. The offensive rebound hit off Tiger junior Ken Bowman's hands and went out-of-bounds.
Jones, who averages 14.2 points a game and ranks among the conference leaders in 3-point percentage, had hit several critical shots this season, including close wins against University of Central Missouri and Emporia State University.
On Saturday, he went 2-of-10 for eight points, his first single figure game since Dec. 12.
In the final seconds, Hassell and senior Orrin Greer both missed game-tying 3s. Greer's shot bounced off the rim just after the buzzer sounded, ending the Tigers' 13-game winning streak.
"We were just spreading the floor and set a high ball screen and let Willie and Dom make a play," Johnson said.
"Then, Dominique got a great look. Wide-open eight footer. That's the thing. We have made those all year. That is just not going to keep happening over and over and over. It was bound for us to miss one of those opportunities."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |