HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State closed out the 2019 calendar year with a 96-55 win over Avila University on Friday evening (Dec. 20) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers never trailed and held the Eagles to 27.1 percent shooting, a season low for a Tiger opponent this year, while scorching the nets on the other end at a season-best 61.7 percent. FHSU improved to 6-4 overall, while Avila dropped to 7-9.
 
The Tigers had five players reach double figures in scoring, led by Jake Hutchings and Perry Carroll each with 17. Carroll was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field, which included two 3-point field goals, and also 1-of-1 at the free-throw line. Hutchings was 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-3 at the charity stripe. Aaron Nicholson was right behind with 16, while Alvin Thompson had 11 and Devin Davis added 10. Jared Vitztum reached double figures in rebounds for the third straight game with 11. Nyjee Wright led in assists with seven. All 11 Tigers scored at least three points in the game.
 
FHSU jumped out to a 24-point halftime lead fueled by a 24-3 run over the final 9:10 of the first half. The Tigers held the Eagles to just 1-of-11 shooting from the field in that span and forced five turnovers.
 
A 6-0 burst by the Tigers to open the second half pushed the lead to 30. The Tigers eventually stretched the margin to 38 before a 15-2 run by Avila brought the margin back to 25. However, the Tigers closed out the game on a 25-9 run to make the final margin 41. The largest margin was 43 with 27 seconds to go before Avila made the final bucket of the game.
 
Avila made just eight field goals in each half, held under 30 percent in each frame. The only bright spot for Avila shooting the ball was at the free-throw line, where it went 15-of-17 (88.2 percent). The Tigers held the seventh-best scorer in NAIA Division II, Shandon Boone, to just 13 points. Boone averaged 23.5 points entering the game. Tremaine Banks led the Eagles with 14 points off the bench.
 
The Tigers were 20-of-31 from the field in the first half (64.5 percent) before still shooting a rock-solid 58.6 percent in the second half. The Tigers were 37-of-60 from the field overall. The nation's sixth-best free-throw shooting team had another strong night at the line, hitting 14-of-16 attempts (87.5 percent). FHSU outrebounded Avila 45-23.
 
Fort Hays State will take a couple weeks off for the holidays before returning to conference action at home on January 4 against a Missouri Southern team currently ranked No. 11 in the nation.