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FHSU suffers road loss in Joplin
2/21/2010
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
JOPLIN, Mo. -- The second half yielded several problems for the Fort Hays State University men's basketball team. After leading Missouri Southern State University 37-36 at the break, FHSU shot just 25 percent after it, and had more turnovers (11) than field goals (7).
The subpar half led to a 76-57 loss at the Leggett and Platt Center on Saturday. Missouri Southern outscored Fort Hays 40-20 after intermission, the fewest points and worst differential FHSU has had in a half all season. The 19-point defeat was the biggest margin of loss for the Tigers in 2009-10.
"They obviously turned up their defense in the second half," Tiger head coach Mark Johnson said. "At times, when we got it in the post, even in the first half, our post players did not finish very well. They got to do a better job finishing. Then, I think we really had costly turnovers at the wrong time, opportunity to get back into the game, or tie the game or take the lead and we just come down and make a silly turnover."
Fort Hays, third in the South Central Regional and tied for 12th in NCAA Division II, dropped to 20-5 overall and 14-4 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, while Missouri Southern improved to 16-9, 10-8 in the conference. The Tigers finished 7-3 on the road in MIAA play, a one-game improvement over last season. Missouri Southern, playing on Senior Day, finished the season with just two home losses, including winning its last four in a row. Fort Hays shot just 35 percent from the field, a season-low.
"When we come to Southern, we know that we are not going to get a lot of calls," senior forward Ryan Herrman said. "We just have to go up strong. We just couldn't finish right now and that's a big problem of why we lost by so much."
Mo. Southern shot 52 percent from the field and 45 percent from beyond the arc. The Lions rank at the bottom of the conference in 3-point percentage at 34.3 percent.
"I thought Southern played great," Johnson said. "Senior Night, they came out with a lot of emotion. I thought we did well to be there for 20 minutes. They made shots in the second half and we were missing it and turning it over."
Mo. Southern point guard Skyler Bowlin, a former MIAA Freshman of the Year, ranks second in the conference in assists per game and shoots just 35 percent from beyond the arc. However, he led Mo. Southern with 20 points, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range. Bowlin, at 6-foot-3, posed matchup problems for FHSU junior point guard Dominique Jones (5-9) and senior guard Willie Hassell (5-9).
"There aren't a lot of 6-3 guys that play the 1 or the 2 and I think that's where our size differential hurt us," Johnson said. "...We are pretty small out there and even when we get right up there and contest shots, they shoot right over us."
The Tigers took an early 18-16 lead at the 12:10 mark of the first half when senior guard Orrin Greer had eight points in less than two minutes. Greer, in his first year of playing basketball since 2007 because of transfer problems and a knee injury, had struggled offensively throughout conference play.
He tied his previous career-high Thursday against Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University with 13 points, then tacked on 13 in the first half versus Southern and finished with a career-high 14. Southern, which hit its first four 3-pointers, regained the lead at 29-22 before Greer drove in for a layup and hit a pullup trey to cut the deficit to 29-27.
Southern held a 36-35 lead when junior guard Dominique Jones collected a steal, drove the length of the floor and was fouled with 0.9 seconds left. He converted both free throws and FHSU led 37-36 at the half.
"(Orrin) was the reason why it was one point at the half," Johnson said. "He had a hot hand."
However, Southern, helped by Tiger turnovers, 3-pointers and plenty of transition buckets, opened the second half on a 38-19 run and led 74-56 with 2:32 remaining after sophomore Jason Adams hit a layup off an FHSU turnover.
Southern went on an early run after intermission before Fort Hays cut the deficit to 51-49 off back-to-back baskets from senior forward Tim Peintner. Southern quickly increased the lead to 61-51 off a trey from Bowlin.
Fort Hays closed within seven at 63-56 after a trey by junior guard Corbin Kuntzsch, the Tigers' first 3 of the second half, before Southern put the game out of reach with an 11-0 run, mainly off Tiger turnovers. FHSU's 17 turnovers were three off its season high.
"We didn't finish and our guards made costly turnovers at important times," Johnson said. "They made it harder on us than they did the first half, but at times, I think we were our own worst enemy. Made poor decisions, didn't shoot the ball well around the basket, didn't get enough offensive rebounds."
The Tigers return home to host Pittsburg State University on Wednesday at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
| 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 |