Box Score

Fort Hays State, ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division II, dropped its third consecutive game on Monday night (Jan. 9), falling 82-71 to No. 14 Missouri Southern. Fort Hays State moved to 10-4 overall and 4-4 in the MIAA and Missouri Southern is now 13-3 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA.

Fort Hays State trailed by just four points at the 9:49 mark of the first half, but the Lions went on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes to build a 17-point lead. Fort Hays State looked to be methodically reeling the Lions back in, going on an 18-6 run to cut the lead down to five with 50 seconds remaining in the first half. The Tigers had a chance to cut it to three or two right near the end of the half, but a bad offensive decision led to a three-point field goal by the Lions just before the buzzer to push the lead back to eight.

The Lions quickly pushed the lead back to a comfortible 14-point margin with a 6-0 run to start the second half and never let the Tigers closer than 11 the rest of the way. Jason Adams finished with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field for MSSU and Keane Thomann added 22 points in the post on 9-of-14 shooting. The Lions finished the game at 54.2 percent from the field.

Fort Hays State continued its recent offensive struggles, finishing at 41.7 percent from the field. They had a very rough night shooting the ball from 3-point range, going just 4-of-22 (18.2 percent). Markus Yarbrough led FHSU in scoring with 13 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting, which included a 3-of-3 effort at the free-throw line. Tyrone Phillips and Kendrick Morse each had 12 points and Karron McKenzie added 10.

Fort Hays State goes on the road for five of its next six games, starting with a two-game swing at Pittsburg State this coming Saturday (Jan. 14) and the following Wednesday (Jan. 18) at Emporia State. The Tigers return home on Saturday, January 21 against Lincoln University to start the second half of the MIAA slate.