Lindenwood (16-12, 8-11 MIAA) at
Fort Hays State (17-11, 10-9 MIAA)
MIAA Tournament Opening Round
Tuesday, February 27 - 7 pm
Hays, Kan. - Gross Memorial Coliseum |
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Men's Basketball will host Lindenwood on Tuesday night (Feb. 27) at Gross Memorial Coliseum in the MIAA Basketball Championship Tournament Opening Round. FHSU is the No. 7 seed in the tournament, while Lindenwood is the No. 10 seed. Game time is set for 7 pm in Hays with a trip to the quarterfinals in Kansas City on the line.
The Tigers finished the regular season 17-11 overall and 10-9 in the MIAA. Lindenwood was 16-12 overall and 8-11 in the MIAA. Lindenwood won the only meeting with FHSU in the regular season, a 69-63 decision in St. Charles. The Lions have won the last two meetings between the teams and they own a 5-2 advantage in the all-time series. This will be the first meeting ever between the teams in the MIAA Tournament.
The winner of Tuesday night's game will advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament to face No. 2 seed Missouri Southern in Kansas City on Friday (Mar. 2) at historic Municipal Auditorium. That game is set for 2:15 pm. Since the tournament format went to 12 teams in 2012-13, the Tigers have advanced to Kansas City all but one season. Fort Hays State's only MIAA Tournament title occurred in 2010-11.
Hadley Gillum continues to pace FHSU at 16.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He reached double figures in 23 games so far this season. He went over 1,000 points in his career last week, now the 20
th player in FHSU Men's Basketball history to score 1,000 or more as a Tiger. He has 1,026 for his career.
Brady Werth has been a steady contributor for the Tigers, reaching double figures in scoring in each of his last 10 games played. Werth scored 19 points in the regular season finale against Southwest Baptist this past Thursday night in Hays, his most points in a game during his 10-game double figure streak. Lindenwood did not see Werth earlier this season, since he was out with illness at that point in time.
Trey O'Neil led the Tigers at Lindenwood earlier this season with 23 points, hitting five 3-point field goals in that contest. Gillum had 14 in that game and
Kyler Kinnamon chipped in 13.
Marcus Cooper had a big final week of the regular season for FHSU, averaging a double-double of 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. He had 13 points and 12 rebounds at Nebraska-Kearney, then 18 point and nine rebounds against Southwest Baptist. Over the last six games, he averaged 8.3 rebounds per game and produced two double-doubles.
Juniors Brad Newman and Chandler Diekvoss lead the Lions. At guard Newman averages 14.9 points per game, while in the post Diekvoss adds 14.7 per game. Diekvoss had a team-high 18 points for the Lions in their meeting with FHSU earlier this season.
