FHSU Athletics

WICHITA, Kan. – Fort Hays State Men's Basketball picked up its first win of the regular season on Saturday at Fugate Gymnasium, but it was not easy in a nail biter that went to overtime. The Tigers prevailed 81-75, going to 1-3 on the season, while Newman dropped to 1-4.
 
The game was tight throughout with neither team leading by more than seven points. Six was the largest lead of the first half, held once by the Tigers at 10-4 before Newman went on to reach that margin three times before the half. However, FHSU stole the momentum back going into halftime with a 9-0 run over the final 2:45. The Tigers led 35-31 at the break. Gilbert Peters sparked the run with a dunk, followed by a Jared Vitztum 3-pointer to tie the game. Peters and Vitztum then followed with two-point field goals to push the Tigers ahead by four.
 
Newman took the momentum back, opening the second half on a 16-5 run to post the largest advantage of the game at 47-40 with 14:41 remaining in the game. A few minutes later, a 6-0 Tiger burst tied the game at the midway point of the second half, the teams deadlocked at 52-52.
 
It was a tight battle the rest of the way as FHSU eventually led by four with 1:54 to go in regulation, but a deep fade away 3-point field goal by Joel Boyce of Newman on the left wing knotted the score once again at 68-68. Both teams struggled with 1-and-1 free-throw shooting situations down the stretch and Peters had a chance to win the game in regulation at the line with 2.3 seconds remaining, but his attempt crawled in and out leaving the game to be decided in overtime.
 
Fort Hays State never trailed in overtime, seeing Newman tie the game once early in the extra period. The Tigers crawled back out to a four-point advantage after Newman came up empty on three consecutive offensive possessions. However, a Jets 3-pointer with 50 seconds remaining closed the gap back to one. Vitztum made a key layup to put the Tigers back up by three with 30 seconds to go and then Newman committed an offensive foul on the other end. Vitztum buried a pair of free throws to extend the lead to five, which was too much for the Jets to overcome in the final 20 seconds.
 
Kaleb Hammeke, who led the Tigers in scoring in the first half with 11, finished with a new career-high 20 points. He was 7-of-13 from the field with two 3-point field goals, while going a perfect 4-of-4 at the free-throw line. He also added a team-high five assists.
 
Jared Vitztum produced his third double-double in four games so far this season. He notched 19 points and 10 rebounds, while leading the team with three blocked shots.
 
Gilbert Peters also reached a new career high with 18 points by going a perfect 8-of-8 from the field and 2-of-4 at the free-throw line. Quinten Rock tied his career high in points, producing 15 for the second straight regular season contest.
 
Boyce led the Jets with 18 points and his 3-pointer that ultimately forced overtime was his only one of the evening. Ian Lee was also in double figures with 16. Boyce was just one rebound shy of a double-double with nine.
 
The Tigers shot a solid 53.4 percent from the field, their highest percentage as a team so far this season. They held the Jets to 41.5 percent, which is a new low by an opponent this season. The game saw 11 ties and 11 lead changes.

Jeremy Brown served in the head coaching role on Saturday with the absence of Mark Johnson for the second-straight game this week due to COVID-19 protocols. Brown was cleared to coach late in the week after both he and Johnson were in quarantine when assistant Todd Johnston led the Tigers to the exhibition victory at Kansas State earlier in the week.

The FHSU men return home next week to host Northeastern State on Friday night (Dec. 18) and then Rogers State on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 20).