Box Score

Fort Hays State punched its ticket to Kansas City for the MIAA Tournament by earning a first-round bye with an 87-53 win over Lincoln on Friday evening (Mar. 1) in Hays. The Tigers finish the regular season at 19-7 overall, 13-5 in the MIAA and have clinched at least the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. Fort Hays State could still earn a share of the conference regular season title with a Central Missouri loss at Washburn on Saturday.

Lincoln had an early 7-2 lead on FHSU, but the Tigers quickly ran past the Blue Tigers with a 21-4 run to build a 13-point lead midway through the opening half. FHSU eventually led by 15 at halftime, 40-25.

Leading by 16 in the second half, FHSU went on a 16-2 run to seal the game, leading by 30 with 11:27 to play. The lead grew as large as 39 points in the second half before the final margin of 34.

Freshman Craig Nicholson led the Tigers in scoring with a season-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, which included a 2-of-3 effort beyond the 3-point line, and a 5-of-5 effort at the free-throw line. He added a team-high six assists. Carson Konrade finished with 15 points, going a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, all behind the 3-point line. Lance Russell had 14 points and Dwayne Brunson had a double-double with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Fort Hays State buried 12 3-point field goals in the game.

Cedric Ridle scored nearly half his team's points with 26 for Lincoln. No other Blue Tiger reached double figures.

Brackets for the MIAA Tournament will be released on Saturday evening upon completion of games around the MIAA. For fans intersted in tracking the game between Central Missouri and Washburn in Topeka to see if FHSU will tie for the regular season championship, here is the live stats link for the game...Live Stats