HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State led from start to finish in an 81-74 victory over Northeastern State on Thursday night (Feb. 15) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The RiverHawks attempted to make a late push, cutting the lead to four with 1:21 remaining, but the Tigers held on to move to 15-10 overall, 8-8 in the MIAA, and sweep the pair of games against the RiverHawks in the regular season. NSU dropped to 7-18 overall and 3-13 in the MIAA.
The Tigers opened the game on a 10-2 run and coasted to a 13-point advantage of 43-30 at halftime. FHSU led by as many as 16 points in the first half, paced by nine points each from
Hadley Gillum and
Brady Werth.
The lead grew to 17 twice early in the second half, but the RiverHawks chipped away and got the lead inside 10 with 8:38 remaining. From the 3:13 mark to the 1:21 mark, the RiverHawks used an 8-2 run to trim the Tiger lead down to just four. However, the Tigers closed out the game at the free-throw line to put the final spread at seven.
Both teams shot the ball well, FHSU at 55.1 percent and NSU at 53.1 percent. The Tigers hit eight 3-point field goals, while the RiverHawks buried 11. The free-throw line was key for the Tigers, where they hit eight more than the RiverHawks. FHSU was 19-of-23 at the line (82.6 percent), while NSU was 11-of-14 (78.6 percent).
Hadley Gillum led the Tigers with 20 points and seven rebounds. He is now just 18 points shy of 1,000 in his career at FHSU.
Trey O'Neil added 17 points, hitting 6-of-8 field goal attempts and 3-of-3 free-throw attempts.
Brady Werth scored 13, while
Marcus Cooper added 12. Four of Cooper's five field goals in the game were dunks, including two on breakaway steals, one on an alley oop, and the other on a stick back off a miss.
Kyler Kinnamon dished out a team-high seven assists, while O'Neil added five helpers.
Jamir Andrews led the RiverHawks with 22 points and seven rebounds. Trent Cantrell came off the bench to score 16. Montre' Williams added 13 and Tanner Mouse had 12.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday (Feb. 17) at home against Central Oklahoma. The Tigers remained in a tie for seventh with Nebraska-Kearney at 8-8 in the MIAA standings after Lincoln (9-8 MIAA) knocked off Central Missouri Thursday night.
