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FHSU men drop second straight
2/2/2010
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- As the final seconds ticked down, senior Orrin Greer sat on the bench, elbows on knees, hands over his mouth. Junior Ken Bowman was next to Greer, an upset expression on his face after playing just eight minutes and fouling out. The rest of Fort Hays State University men's basketball players were somber after the Tigers lost 75-69 at Missouri Western State University on Monday night.
The Tigers, who opened the season 17-1 and 11-0 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, lost their second straight MIAA contest and finished a three-day, two-city road stretch 0-2.
"We just didn't make the tough plays you have to make," Tiger coach Mark Johnson said. "You have to have an important stop and we didn't get it. You have to have an important rebound and we didn't get it."
Fort Hays struggled in all facets, including free throw shooting (53 percent) and defense. Missouri Western shot 50 percent from the field, the first time all season a team has shot that high against the Tigers. Six players tallied at least nine points for the Griffons, including 14 points from James Bush.
'They are quick at every position," senior forward Tim Peintner said. "They are tough to guard for the fact that they can drive and put pressure on officials and get to the line and shoot a lot of free throws. That is just tough to guard right there and it puts pressure on you the whole game. Once again, the coaches put together a great scouting report. We've got to find a way to get it done."
Fort Hays, ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division II and first in the South Central Regional, dropped to 17-3 overall and 11-2 in the MIAA, falling into second place in the conference standings, one game behind University of Central Missouri. Missouri Western, ranked eighth in the region, moved to 14-7 overall, 9-5 in the MIAA, including 9-1 at home.
The Griffons, known for their athleticism, don't start anyone taller than 6-foot-4. However, they are big at the other four positions.
"Tonight we just were struggling offensively," Johnson said. "They are a physical team and where they are physical is at the guard spots and on the perimeter and that's why they are a little different than what you normally face."
Fort Hays, on a school-record pace for 3-point shooting percentage, struggled beyond the arc for the second straight game. After shooting 44 percent on treys going into the weekend, FHSU is 9-of-36 (25 percent) on 3-pointers the last two contests, including 7-of-20 against Missouri Western.
"We were shooting it at a rate that you just can't sustain," Johnson said. "Reality is going to set in and I think reality is setting in on us. (Shooting well) covered a lot of our weaknesses and tonight again, you've got to still find a way to win the game even though you may not be shooting it as well as you have been in the past. There are still ways for you to win the game and we are just not doing that right now."
Fort Hays led 29-26 at the half and 43-36 with 13 1/2 minutes left. Missouri Western outscored FHSU 39-26 the rest of the way.
"I thought we guarded pretty well in the first half," Johnson said. "Gave up (39) points in the last 13 minutes of the game and you can't do that on the road and expect to win."
FHSU had little production from Bowman, who fouled out with 6:40 left. Bowman scored five points in eight minutes.
"He is a great rebounder, a strong guy on the inside. He just has got to find a way to keep himself on the floor," Peintner said.
Missouri Western, the conference's worst free throw shooting team at 59 percent, went 23-of-32 (72 percent) from the line.
"We knocked down free throws when it counted," senior Marcus Rhodes said.
"I thought that really helped us. Just coming into the game, we knew that it was going to come down to free throws. We knew that if we had a slight lead, they were going to foul us."
Down 71-66 with 25 seconds left, Fort Hays had a chance to cut the deficit to two, but Peintner missed a trey on a no-call. Peintner drew contact, but no foul. He talked with an official shortly after the shot.
"I'm not going to miss a shot that bad," Peintner said. "When my hands are clapped together, it's not my fault. Someone is hitting my hand before the ball gets out of there. ... It's just one of those deals that didn't go your way."
Missouri Western then hit four free throws to secure the win. Junior Dominique Jones led Fort Hays with 14 points, one of four Tigers in double figures. FHSU will travel to rival Washburn University on Saturday.
"We are struggling on the defensive end. We are struggling on the offensive end," Johnson said.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| TS | 04/06 | Emporia State | L 8-1 |
| SB | 03/30 | Panhandle State | W 10-2 (5 inn.) |
| SB | 03/30 | Panhandle State | W 13-3 (5 inn.) |
| BB | 03/30 | Washburn | W 3-1 |
| BB | 03/30 | Washburn | W 3-1 |
| TS | 03/23 | Kansas Wesleyan | L 6-3 |
| BB | 03/23 | Metro State | W 20-8 |
| BB | 03/23 | Metro State | W 6-5 |
| SB | 03/19 | Nebraska-Omaha | L 4-2 |
| SB | 03/19 | Truman State | W 4-1 |
| SB | 03/18 | Mo. Western | L 6-2 |
| BB | 03/17 | Missouri S&T | W 2-1 (10) |
| SB | 03/17 | Bethany | W 6-1 |
| SB | 03/17 | Bethany | W 8-1 |
| BB | 03/16 | Misosuri S&T | L 13-4 |
| MB | 03/14 | Central Missouri | L 80-73 |
| BB | 3/13 | NW Missouri | W 13-10 |
| BB | 03/13 | NW Missouri | W 4-3 |
| MB | 03/13 | Central Oklahoma | W 80-64 |
| SB | 03/08 | Fort Lewis | W 5-4 |