HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State fought off early foul trouble and outscored Emporia State 19-12 in the final five minutes to pull away for an 86-78 win on Saturday (Dec. 8). The Tigers claimed their fourth straight win over the Hornets and moved to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the MIAA. Emporia State dropped to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the MIAA.
 
Fort Hays State held an eight-point lead, it's largest of the game, three times inside the five-minute mark of the first half. However, 16 fouls committed by the Tigers in the first half allowed the Hornets to stay within three points at halftime, 39-36.
 
Fort Hays State pushed its lead to six at the 16:48 mark of the second half. But the Hornets fought back with a 12-5 run to take their first lead since the 10:05 mark of the first half with 11:22 to play. Emporia State jumped ahead by three on a Kooper Glick 3-pointer at the 10:22 mark, but 30 seconds later Marcus Cooper answered to tie the game 60-60.
 
Emporia State took small leads three more times until a Brady Werth layup at 5:29 made the score 67-66 and put FHSU in front for good. Aaron Nicholson provided a big 3-point field goal 40 seconds later, pushing the Tiger lead to four. From that point, the game turned into a dribble-drive and free-throw contest as the Tigers led by at least four points the rest of the way. Fort Hays State went 12-of-14 at the free-throw line in the final five minutes of the game. Overall, FHSU was 20-of-28 at the charity stripe.
 
Kyler Kinnamon was rock-solid for the Tigers at the free-throw line down the stretch, making all six of his attempts in the final minute of the game. He finished 8-of-8 overall at the line, which helped boost his scoring total to 14 for the game. He led the team in assists with five.
 
Marcus Cooper led the Tigers in scoring with 23 points, going 8-of-12 from the field, including a 2-of-4 effort beyond the 3-point line. He buried five of his six free-throw attempts. Also adding double figures in scoring for the Tigers were Nicholson with 14 and Devin Davis with 13. Jared Vitztum pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. FHSU finished at 54.7 percent shooting from the field, including a 50 percent effort beyond the 3-point line.
 
Julius Jackson had 21 points to lead Emporia State, closely followed by Malik Hluchoweckyj with 20. Justin Washington (14) and Kooper Glick (13) also finished in double figures. FHSU held ESU to just 41.5 percent shooting from the field overall, though the Hornets scored seven more points than FHSU at the free-throw line where they went 27-of-34.
 
Now on a four-game win streak, the Tigers return to non-conference play for their next two games. FHSU plays host to Bethel College in nine days on Monday (Dec. 17) at 7:30 pm before wrapping up December with McPherson College in Hays on December 30.