HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State overcame first-half shooting struggles and turned a four-point halftime deficit into a 19-point win over Missouri Western on Thursday night (Jan. 18) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers outscored the Griffons 37-14 in the second half to run away with their 11^th straight win at home by a score of 61-42. FHSU improved to 12-5 overall, 5-3 in the MIAA, while MWSU fell to 3-13 overall, 1-8 in the MIAA.
 
Fort Hays State came out of the gate just fine, building a 10-2 lead in the first four and a half minutes of the game. However, the quick start slowly faded and Missouri Western started a slow steady climb to get the lead cut down to one twice before taking the lead at the 5:23 mark. A 15-2 run by the Griffons pushed their lead out to six with 3:42 remaining in the opening frame before going into the locker room with a 28-24 lead over the Tigers. In the first half, FHSU hit just 6-of-22 field goals, struggling to a 27.3 percent shooting performance. At one point, FHSU went without a field goal for over eight and a half minutes, but luckily kept afloat with free throws.
 
After scoring just four points in the first half, senior forward Hadley Gillum got the Tigers going right out of the break, scoring 14 of his 15 second-half points in a 20-2 run by the Tigers to open the half. FHSU held MWSU to just two points over the first 10:40 of the second half and built a 14-point lead. Gillum scored 14 of the team's first 16 points of the half, broken up only by a Marcus Cooper tip-in for the second bucket of the half for FHSU. Gillum added one more point at the free-throw line and finished with a team-best 19 for the game. He was the only Tiger in double figures.
 
Marcus Cooper had a solid night on the boards for the Tigers with 11 of the team's 39 for the night. The Tigers outrebounded the Griffons by seven. The 11 rebounds marked a new season high for Cooper. He finished with seven points for the game. Aaron Nicholson provided nine points, all via three 3-point field goals. The Tigers shot 41.4 percent from the field after halftime to finish at 35.3 percent for the game. They hit 18-of-25 free-throw attempts (72 percent).
 
The Griffons shot a rough 3-of-21 (14.3 percent) from the field after halftime and missed all eight of their 3-point field goal attempts. Alex Martin led MWSU with 10 points, followed by TJ Evans with nine. Cole Clearman had a team-best eight rebounds. MWSU finished at 33.3 percent from the field for the game and just 13.3 percent (2-of-15) beyond the 3-point line.
 
Fort Hays State's largest lead of the second half was 20 points with 1:16 to go in the game before the final difference settled at 19. It marked the third second-half come-from-behind win in MIAA play for the Tigers in just four home conference contests so far. FHSU ran its win streak over MWSU at Gross Memorial Coliseum to six with the win.
 
The 42 points by MWSU marks a new record for fewest allowed by the Tigers in MIAA play. FHSU joined the conference in 2006-07. The previous low for an opponent in an MIAA game was Emporia State scoring just 44 against FHSU during the 2014-15 season in Emporia. The 42 points also marked the lowest allowed to an opponent since an 84-42 win over Central Christian College that same season. FHSU held a couple of opponents under 40 in its tenure with the MIAA, but both were non-conference opponents from the NAIA. It was nearly a record for fewest allowed in a conference game under head coach Mark Johnson, but the Tigers allowed 41 twice (Chadron State, 2005-06, and Western State, 2001-02) during their tenure with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
The Tigers will put their 11-game home court win streak on the line Saturday when they host defending national champion, Northwest Missouri State, at 4 pm inside Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Bearcats come into the game ranked No. 2 in the nation and held the No. 1 ranking nationally the first five NABC Polls of the regular season. The Bearcats took their second loss of the season and in conference play Thursday night at Nebraska-Kearney.