Northeastern State (7-17, 3-12 MIAA) at Fort Hays State (14-10, 7-8 MIAA) Thursday, February 15 - 7:30 p.m. Hays, Kan. - Gross Memorial Coliseum

Game Sponsor: Fly Hays Promotions: Education Appreciation Night - All teachers from FHSU, USD 489, and TMP (with valid ID) will receive one free ticket into the game.

 

The Fort Hays State men's basketball team hosts Northeastern State on Thursday night (Feb. 15) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. Game time is set for 7:30 pm, following the women's game at 5:30 pm. The Tigers play the RiverHawks for the second time in one week. FHSU won the first meeting last week in Tahlequah 98-89 in double overtime.
 
The race for MIAA Tournament seeding heats up this week as the Tigers seek to secure a first-round tournament game. The Tigers are now four games back of a pair of teams tied for third in the conference. The top four seeds advance to Kansas City for the MIAA Tournament automatically with a first-round bye. The teams tied in third need just one more win to eliminate the Tigers from contention for a bye. The teams that finish in fifth through eighth in the conference standings will host first-round tournament games. Currently, FHSU is tied for seventh in the MIAA at 7-8 with Pittsburg State and Nebraska-Kearney, but just a half game back of Lincoln (8-8) for sixth. FHSU, Pittsburg State, and Nebraska-Kearney all have four games remaining entering Thursday night.
 
In the first meeting with Northeastern State, the Tigers received big double-double performances from Hadley Gillum and Marcus Cooper. Gillum had 35 points, just one off his career high, and 11 rebounds, while Cooper added 20 points and 17 rebounds. Brady Werth was just one rebound shy of giving the Tigers three players with double-doubles, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.
 
1,000-Point Watch: Hadley Gillum is now just 38 points shy of 1,000 for his career at Fort Hays State. He is looking to become the 20^th 1,000-point scorer in school history. The last to reach the milestone was Rob Davis last season. Gillum averages 16.8 points per game, but scored 30 or more in a game three times this year.
 
Jamir Andrews led Northeastern State in scoring in the first meeting with 24 points, hitting consecutive 3-point field goals to force overtime.
 
FHSU dropped its last contest by a score of 81-57 at Central Oklahoma back on Saturday (Feb. 10). Northeastern State also lost that day at home to Nebraska-Kearney and brings a three-game losing skid to Hays. FHSU leads the all-time series with NSU 8-5 and won the last two meetings between the schools.