Box Score Fort Hays State picked up a key conference win on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18) at Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Okla. by a score of 79-65. The Tigers pushed their win streak to six games and moved to 14-3 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA. Northeastern State dropped to 11-5 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA.

Trailing 23-16 in the first half, Fort Hays State went on an 18-5 to close the half and led 34-28 at halftime. A 16-7 run to open the second half pushed the Tiger lead to its largest, 15 points with 14:01 to go in the game. Northeastern followed with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to seven as the Tigers went scoreless for nearly four and a half minutes, but a pair of Craig Nicholson free-throws snapped the run and FHSU would not let NSU closer than seven the rest of the way.

Fort Hays State, the top free-throw shooting team in the nation currently, got the job done at the line, shooting 88.5 percent as a team for the game (23-of-26). FHSU missed just one attempt in the second half, going 18-of-19 after the break. Craig Nicholson had a big chunk of that total, going 15-of-16 at the line and finishing with a team-high 27 points. He was 6-of-9 from the field. Carson Konrade added 16 points and Dwayne Brunson had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Northeastern State was paced by its All-American point guard Bryton Hobbs with 28 points. Landon DeMasters added 10.

The win vaulted the Tigers into a third-place tie in the MIAA standings with Northeastern State and Central Missouri. The Tigers remain two games back of conference leader Northwest Missouri State, which defeated FHSU earlier this season in Hays in the only game where the teams will meet in the regular season.

Fort Hays State plays its final non-conference game of the season on Thursday night (Jan. 23) at Gross Memorial Coliseum against Division II independent school South Dakota Mines. Tip is set for 7:30 pm.