Fort Hays State ran into a red-hot 3-point shooting Lindenwood team on Thursday night in St. Charles, Mo. The Lions never trailed in a 73-46 win over the Tigers. FHSU moved to 8-6 overall, 2-4 in the MIAA with the loss. Lindenwood improved to 9-6, 5-2 in the MIAA.

After suffering a heartbreaking loss on Monday to Southwest Baptist at home on a buzzer beater, the Tigers had nothing go their way at Lindenwood. The Lions took the "live by the three, die by the three" approach and definitely lived by it, sinking 13-of-24 attempts from beyond the arc in the game. They buried nine of those three-point field goals in the first half to take a 36-25 lead at halftime, scoring all but nine points beyond the 3-point line before the break.

Coupled with a flat offensive performance by the Tigers, Lindenwood had the perfect recipe for a blowout win. Fort Hays State shot its lowest field goal percentage of the season (39.1) and the 46 points was the lowest output of the season, 20 less than the previous low of 66 against Northwest Missouri State in overtime. FHSU entered the game averaging 83.2 points per game on offense. FHSU also struggled from beyond the 3-point line, just 3-of-13 (23.1 percent). FHSU was only able to shoot 11 free-throws on the night and made seven, thanks to only eight fouls committed in the game by Lindenwood.

Lindenwood did a great job of working the ball on offense for a good portion of the 35-second shot clock each possession and buried shots late on the shot clock often, especially the 3-point field goal each time the Tigers tried to make a run. When FHSU pulled within four at 12:36 in the first half, Lindenwood responded with a 3-pointer to push the lead to seven. Jeremy Wilson answered with a three to cut it back to four, but Lindenwood again responded with two-consecutive 3-pointers to push the lead to 10.

The Tigers pulled within four on a Royce Williams free-throw at 6:27 and got the offensive rebound off his second free-throw attempt, but an offensive foul called on Craig Nicholson before sinking a floater in the lane waved off a bucket that could have cut the lead to two. Once again, Lindenwood buried a 3-pointer to push the lead back to seven. For the final time, FHSU cut the lead back to four with 3:03 remaining before the half, but Lindenwood went on a 7-0 run to end the half with a layup, a 3-pointer, and another layup just before time expired to build an 11-point lead.

The closest the Tigers came in the second half was 10 points after a 6-0 run early in the second half. Wilson triggered the run with a jumper, then had a highlight one-handed slam dunk in transition on an alley oop pass from James Fleming. Fleming capped the run with a floater in the lane at the 17:34 mark. Again, the Lions were unphased as they buried another 3-pointer to push the lead back to 13. FHSU never pulled closer than 11 the rest of the way and hit just five field goals after the 6-0 run early in the second half. FHSU scored just 21 points in the second half after struggling to 25 in the first half.

Wilson led the Tigers with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, which included one 3-point field goal. He also led FHSU in rebounds with five. Nicholson had 10 points and three assists. FHSU was held to just five assists in the game after averaging nearly 18 per contest. The Tigers turned the ball over 13 times, giving the Tigers a very poor assist/turnover ratio - a stat category in which they among the best nationally.

Lindenwood finished 51.1 percent overall from the field and 54.2 percent beyond the 3-point line. Darris Smith led a very balanced scoring effort for the Lions with 12 points, followed by Cory Arentsen with 11 and Chance Creekmur with 10. Six different Lions buried 3-point field goals in the game, Nick VanOsdale and Michael Boos each with a team-best three each, which accounted for all 18 of the pair's points. Smith and Creekmur each had two 3-pointers in the game.

The Tigers didn't lose any ground on the teams from their side of the conference on Thursday as all six teams from the west in action lost. Washburn was the only team idle from the west on Thursday.

The Tigers look to snap out of their struggles at Lincoln University on Saturday (Jan. 10). Game time is set for 3:30 pm in Jefferson City.