Fort Hays State men's basketball faces a difficult test on Wednesday night (Feb. 13) at Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo. FHSU enters the game tied for the MIAA lead at 9-4 in the conference, 15-6 overall, while Northwest Missouri State is just a game back at 15-7 overall and 8-5 in the MIAA. Tipoff is set for 7:30 pm at Bearcat Arena. FHSU is looking to extend its win streak to six games.
Fort Hays State edged Northwest Missouri State last week at home by a score of 59-58. The Bearcats missed a shot at the buzzer that allowed FHSU to survive at home and eventually ascend to the top of the MIAA standings after a blow out with over Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday. The Tigers are currently tied with Central Missouri for the MIAA lead, but seven teams are all within one game of first place in the conference standings. The Tigers are 3-3 in MIAA road games so far this year.
Northwest Missouri State enters on a two-game skid after losing at FHSU and Washburn last week. Fort Hays State is only 2-4 against the Bearcats in Maryville since joining the MIAA in 2006-07. Northwest Missouri State won last year's match-up in Maryville 74-57.
Dwayne Brunson continues to lead the Tigers in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. He averages 15.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.1 blocked shots per game. He is tied for the conference lead in blocked shots per game with Jordan Talbert of Missouri Southern. Also averaging double figures in scoring are
Lance Russell (13.8),
Craig Nicholson (13.5) and
Ben Congiusta (12.7). Nicholson leads the MIAA in assists per game, averaging 7.6, which puts him second in the nation just two-tenths behind Dino Mallios of St. Anselm, who averages 7.8 per game.
