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No. 10 FHSU holds off Missouri Southern
1/12/2010
By RANDY GONZALES
rgonzales@dailynews.net
The Tigers' defense helped them earn the No. 10 ranking in NCAA Division II.
But that same defense which was allowing 59.9 points per game and leading the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in scoring defense gave up big nights the last two games -- but the Tigers still won.
After allowing 89 points in a 13-point win over 11th-ranked Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University on Saturday, the Fort Hays State University men's basketball team pulled out an 87-81 victory over Missouri Southern State University on Monday night at Gross Memorial Coliseum. It marked the Tigers' 10th straight victory.
"Give Missouri Southern credit; I thought they were great tonight," Fort Hays coach Mark Johnson said. "We created a lot of our own misery tonight. They wanted it more than we did for most of the game."
Fort Hays (14-1 overall, 8-0 MIAA) trailed 43-42 at halftime despite shooting 59 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc. The Tigers surrendered 40 by halftime against Southwest Baptist on Saturday.
"As a team, we're falling in love with our offense and forgetting defense," Johnson said.
The second half was close throughout, with neither team getting more than a six-point lead until the Tigers pulled away late with free throws.
Foul shots were the difference for the second straight game. After not getting a basket in the final six minutes on Saturday, but sinking 18 free throws in that span for the win, the Tigers made three buckets in the final eight minutes on Monday. Fort Hays, which struggled from the line earlier in the game, swished 11-of-12 foul shots in the final 1:22.
"We made them when we had to," Johnson said.
The Tigers' last two baskets were pivotal. The Tigers were up by two points when junior guard Corbin Kuntzsch posted up on the block, scored and was fouled. His free throw completed the three-point play to give the Tigers a 73-68 lead with 2:52 left.
After Tiger junior forward Ken Bowman made a free throw and the Lions got a pair at the line, Fort Hays senior forward Tim Peintner posted up in the same spot Kuntzsch did, and made his only basket for a 76-70 lead with 2:09 remaining.
"We tried to isolate those guys down low," Johnson said.
From there, Missouri Southern (9-6, 3-5) got as close as four points, but no closer.
Peintner hit two free throws with 35 seconds left for an 81-76 lead, then Tiger junior guard Dominique Jones stole the ball and was fouled on a driving layup. Jones made both free throws with 29 seconds remaining to make it 83-76. Missouri Southern turned the ball over on its next possession, and senior guard Willie Hassell was fouled and made both free throws with 19 seconds left.
The Lions got a 3-pointer by senior Mariun Price to cut the margin to six points, but Hassell made two more from the line with 11 seconds on the clock.
"I never question our competitiveness," Johnson said. "We're going to battle."
Johnson just wants his players to battle a little harder on the defensive end, like they were doing earlier in the season.
"It's just that want-to," he said. "We've done it before."
Jones said the difference between the first half and second half was "defense and attacking the boards. We got here by playing defense."
Missouri Southern, which had been forcing 21 turnovers a game while using a full-court press, chose not to attack the Tigers with full-court pressure for most of the game. As a result, Fort Hays finished with 11 turnovers and shot 56 percent from the floor for the game.
"They're a very athletic team," Johnson said. "They changed their style. They didn't come at us full-court press like we thought they would."
Fort Hays had balanced scoring, with four players in double figures led by Kuntzsch's 18 points. Hassell added 16 points and Bowman scored 15. Jones and junior forward Dijon Smith each scored 12, with Smith getting all of his points in the first half.
Missouri Southern also had five players score in double figures, led by sophomore Jason Adams with a game-high 19 points.
Fort Hays will be at Pittsburg State University on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff. Unlike the Lions, the Gorillas play a slow-down style of ball.
"They play physical, tough defense," Johnson said. "They slow the game down."
With the latest poll coming out today, the Tigers very well could move up in the rankings. Johnson knows what that means.
"The bigger the success, more the bull's-eye on your back," Johnson said.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| SB | 03/08 | Fort Lewis | W 5-4 |
| BB | 03/07 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 13-7 |
| BB | 03/06 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 16-4 |
| BB | 03/06 | No. 9 Emporia State | W 3-0 |
| MB | 03/05 | Emporia State | L 65-61 |
| BB | 03/05 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 10-3 |
| WB | 03/04 | No. 15 Emporia | L 72-66 |
| WB | 02/28 | No. 12 Emporia State | L 87-80 |
| MB | 02/28 | Emporia State | W 94-47 |
| SB | 02/28 | Quincy | L 6-0 |
| SB | 02/27 | Mo Southern | W 9-3 |
| SB | 02/27 | Missouri S&T | L 8-3 |
| SB | 02/27 | Drury | W 17-10 |
| BB | 02/27 | Mo. Western | W 17-0 |
| BB | 02/27 | Mo. Western | W 3-2 (10 inn.) |
| BB | 02/26 | Mo. Western | W 12-8 |
| BB | 02/26 | Missouri Western | W 11-10 |
| MB | 02/24 | Pittsburg State | W 69-60 |
| WB | 02/24 | Pittsburg State | L 78-74 |
| MB | 02/21 | Mo. Southern | L 76-57 |