HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Men's Basketball kept its recent momentum going on Friday night (Dec. 18) with an 81-76 win over Northeastern State at Gross Memorial Coliseum. After being tied at the half, a 10-0 burst by the Tigers helped keep them in the lead the remainder of the game and claim their first home win of the season. FHSU is now 2-3 on the season, while NSU dropped to 1-4.
 
Fort Hays State jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game before Northeastern State began to find its rhythm. Three RiverHawk turnovers led to three Tiger buckets, all of the two-point variety. NSU countered with an 11-4 run to trim the lead to one, but FHSU extended the lead back to eight once again with 10:30 to go before the half. NSU used a 6-0 burst to tie the game 28-28 with 5:54 remaining in the opening half, then tied the game once more at 36-36 with 1:36. NSU briefly took a 39-36 lead before FHSU closed the half with three points to create a 39-39 deadlock at the break. A Bjarni Jonsson tip-in with just a couple ticks remaining knotted the score.
 
The lead switched hands a couple times early in the second half before and the margin remained within four during the first seven and a half minutes. The Tigers finally broke free with some breathing room by using the aforementioned 10-0 run from 12:44 to 10:05 on the clock, going up by 11 points. Kaleb Hammeke sparked the run with a driving layup, then Jared Vitztum rallied for the final eight points of the run with a pair of layups and a 4-of-4 effort at the free-throw line.
 
Northeastern State chipped away at the lead, trimming it back down to one at 66-65 with a 13-3 run, capped with 7:03 remaining. But the Tigers would stand firm and not let the RiverHawks pass by as they pushed the lead back out to seven with 3:06 to go. NSU closed within three at 79-76 with 5.8 seconds remaining, but Quinten Rock iced the game with a pair of free throws.
 
Rock finished with 19 points, a new high for his young career after going 4-of-8 from the field and a solid 10-of-12 at the free-throw line. Vitztum finished with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and a 5-of-6 effort at the line. Alvin Thompson added a season-high 15 points and Hammeke finished with 10 points and a team-high six assists. Jonsson led the Tigers in rebounds with seven and nearly reached double figures in scoring with eight points.
 
Troy Locke of Northeastern State led all scorers with 21 points. Trey Sampson finished with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Brad Davis added 15 points.
 
The Tigers have nearly scored the same amount of points three games straight, the final two resulting in wins. FHSU scored 81 in its first win of the season at Newman last Saturday, and replicated that total on Friday night with 81 once again. The Tigers scored 80 at Nebraska-Kearney the game before their win at Newman and they had 78 in the first game of the season in a buzzer-beating loss to Washburn. Emporia State was the only team to hold the Tigers under 70 points in a game so far this season.
 
Fort Hays State now prepares to tangle with Rogers State on Sunday (Dec. 20), looking to move their record to the break-even mark. Rogers State will enter the contest at 2-4 overall after a win at Nebraska-Kearney on Friday evening. The Tigers are looking to avenge a home loss to the Hillcats last season.