Box Score


The Fort Hays State men's basketball team remains tied for first place in the MIAA standings after an 82-70 win at Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday (Feb. 16). FHSU shot a red-hot 62 percent from the field for the game and Dwayne Brunson scored a season-high 35 points in the winning effort. The Tigers moved to 17-6 overall and 11-4 in the MIAA, while Nebraska-Kearney dropped to 6-16 overall and 3-11 in the MIAA.

Both teams came out of the gates scorching hot shooting the ball. The Lopers built a 10-point lead at 29-19 with 7:15 remaining in the first half before the Tigers went on an 11-0 run to grab the lead back. UNK led one more time before the Tigers eventually took a slim 39-37 lead into halftime. In the first half, FHSU shot 55.6 percent from the field and UNK shot 52 percent.

The Tigers took the efficiency shooting the ball to another level in the second half, going 69.6 percent from the field. They held the Lopers to just 34.5 percent shooting in the second half. A quick 6-0 burst out of halftime gave FHSU an eight-point lead and the lead finally reached double figures with 15:44 to go in the game. An 11-3 run midway through the second half pushed the Tigers to a 19-point advantage, their largest of the game, which was too much for the Lopers to overcome.

The Lopers could not stop Dwayne Brunson, who scored a season-high 35 points on a very efficient 14-of-16 shooting from the field. He was also a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. The 35 points was the most scored in a game by a Tiger since the 1998 season when Chris Danner had 36 against Nebraska-Kearney. It marked the most points scored by a Tiger under head coach Mark Johnson, as the previous high was 34 by Dominique Jones against Midwestern State during the 2010-11 season. Brunson also led the Tigers in rebounds with seven in the game.

Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Tigers were Lance Russell with 18 points and Craig Nicholson with 11. Ben Congiusta dished out a team-high six assists.

Pierre Newton led the Lopers with 19 points, followed by Jon Henderson with 17. Drew Sankey led UNK in rebounds with five and Taylor Shipley led in assists with six.

Fort Hays State ran its win streak over Nebraska-Kearney to seven games and it was the fourth-straight win for FHSU in Kearney.

In the MIAA standings, FHSU remains tied with Central Missouri at 11-4. Both teams received help on Saturday as both Washburn and Northeastern State lost, giving the MIAA frontrunners a one and a half game cushion in the standings. Next up for Fort Hays State is Washburn in Topeka on Saturday (Feb. 23), which will be the final regular season road game for the Tigers before returning home for the last two regular season games.