HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State kept its win streak rolling on Sunday (Dec. 20) by defeating Rogers State 78-71 at Gross Memorial Coliseum. FHSU moved back to even in wins and losses heading into the holiday break, now 3-3 on the season. The Tigers ran their win streak to three games (four including their exhibition win at K-State) in regular season play after a tough 0-3 start to the season.
 
This was the first victory for FHSU over Rogers State in a young series history between the schools. Rogers State took the first two meetings ever between the teams last season when the Hillcats went on to earn a selection in the NCAA Tournament with a record of 24-6.
 
The Tigers took control by creating a comfortable lead in the latter part of the first half and they fought off a few second half bursts from the Hillcats to hang on for the seven-point win, their largest of the season so far.
 
Rogers State held its largest lead of four points early in the game at the 16:28 mark of the first half, but a quick 5-0 burst put the Tigers into the lead, 9-8, with a Kaleb Hammeke 3-point field goal and pair of free throws by Alvin Thompson. The Tigers would never trail the remainder of the game, which spanned the final 35:52 of the game. The Hillcats tied the game three times following the 9-8 Tiger lead, but FHSU built a lead of 13 points with a 22-9 run from the 7:28 to 2:00 marks. Rogers State closed the first half on an 8-0 run to cut the lead back down to five, 39-34, at the half.
 
The Tigers came out firing right out of the break, nailing three straight 3-pointers. Quinten Rock started the 3-point party, Thompson followed, and Rock added another to push the Tigers out to a 14-point lead. After Rogers State's first bucket of the half, Rock drilled another 3-pointer to put the Tigers up 15 at 51-36, their largest lead of the game, with 17:01 to go.
 
The Hillcats did not go quietly though, trimming the lead all the way back down to the halftime margin of five twice with a 19-9 run between 16:34 and 9:51 remaining on the clock. But the Tigers withstood the push and countered with a 13-3 run to match their largest margin of the game with 5:19 to go. Rogers State trimmed the lead inside 10 three more times with their closest push being a six-point spread with 14 seconds remaining, but the Tigers tacked on one more point to make the final margin seven.
 
Quinten Rock was magnificent for the Tigers in the second half, scoring 20 of a career-high 24-point effort on the evening. He did a ton of damage at the free-throw line, hitting his first 12 attempts before coming up just short on his final attempt of the game. All four of his field goals in the game were 3-pointers as he went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
 
Jared Vitztum posted another double-double with a workmanlike 17 points and 10 rebounds. Thompson, who led the Tigers in scoring at halftime with 12, also finished with 17. Bjarni Jonsson produced the first double-figure scoring game of his career, finishing with 11. Hammeke dished out a team-high six assists. The Tigers were solid at the free-throw line, hitting 25-of-28 attempts, to finish at 89.3 percent.
 
Ricardo Lynch led the Hillcat scoring effort with 16, followed by Darraja Parnell with 13, Joey Saracco with 12, and Jett Sternberger with 11. Devin Pullum had a team-best six assists for RSU. FHSU held RSU to 41.3 percent shooting from the field.
 
The Tigers are scheduled for a three-game road swing when they return from the holiday break. The Tigers will be on the road at Central Oklahoma on January 2, the same day the FHSU women will be playing their makeup game against Emporia State in Hays. The following week, FHSU will head to Central Missouri and Lincoln on January 7 and 9. FHSU will be back at home on January 14 when they are scheduled to face the current No. 1 ranked team in the nation, Northwest Missouri State.