Fort Hays State men's basketball turned in a strong defensive effort at Emporia State on Wednesday night (Jan. 28), winning by a score of 66-44. The Tigers claimed their seventh-straight win over the Hornets and fourth straight in Emporia. FHSU is now 13-7 overall, 6-5 in the MIAA, while ESU dropped to 9-11 overall, 2-9 in the MIAA.

After Emporia State led 7-3 early, the FHSU went on an 11-0 run to claim a 14-7 lead. The Tigers never relinquished their lead following the run, eventually building a 28-20 lead by halftime.

The Tigers opened the second half on a 9-0 run, holding ESU scoreless for the first 5:42 of the period. The pushed the lead to 17 points and ESU would not get closer than 12 the rest of the way. A FHSU 14-2 run pushed the Tigers' lead to 24 points, its largest with 8:53 to go.

Fort Hays State held Emporia State to exactly 33.3 percent shooting in both the first and second halves. The Hornets shot only 19 percent from beyond the 3-point line, hitting just 4-of-21 attempts.

Even with the lower scoring game, the Tigers were efficient on the offensive end, shooting 53.1 percent overall. They were also efficient beyond the 3-point line, hitting 7-of-13 attempts (53.8 percent).

James Fleming led the Tigers with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, which included two 3-pointers, and a 3-of-3 effort at the free-throw line. Jake Stoppel added 10 points, while Achoki Moikobu and Jared Tadlock each had nine. Moikobu pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and Fleming dished out a team-high five assists.

The Tigers moved into a tie for seventh in the MIAA standings with Central Oklahoma. The Tigers entered the night tied with Washburn for eighth. Fort Hays State plays at Washburn on Saturday night (Jan. 31) at 7 pm.