ST. PAUL, Minn. — Fort Hays State led for the final 36 minutes of its season opener with Southwest Minnesota State, but had to hold off a late charge to hold on for a 54-53 win. The Tigers got a defensive stop on the final play of the game to hang on for the victory.
Jahvari Martino led the Tigers with 21 points, the only Tiger to score in double figures.
The Tigers used their standard brand of solid defense in the first half to keep the Mustangs' offense at bay. The Tigers moved into the lead 5-4 on a pair of free throws by
Eli Lawson and then led by eight three times before eventually taking a four-point lead, 22-18, into the half. The Tigers held the Mustangs under 10 points for the first 14 minutes of the half. Lawson led the Tigers with six points in the opening half.
Martino got his offensive game going in the second half for the Tigers, scoring 19 of the team's 32 points after halftime to finish with 21 for the game. He hit eight field goals, three which were beyond the 3-point line, and added a pair of free throws.
The Tigers led by 11 with 8:22 to go, but saw their lead trimmed to just one with 3:27 remaining. A 6-0 burst with four points from Martino and two from
David Johnson had the Tigers up seven with just over two minutes to go, but they would not score the rest of the way and had to get enough defensive stops to hang on for the win. Up one with six seconds to play, the Tigers stopped a driving layup just before the buzzer to stay in the lead.
Both teams finished a shade under 40 percent from the field, FHSU at 39.6 percent and SMSU at 39.2 percent. Both teams hit six 3-point field goals. FHSU had one more field goal (21 to 20), while SMSU had one more free throw (7 to 6).
Johnson had nine points and a team-best four assists for FHSU, while
Tim Eze pulled down a team-best eight rebounds in his Tiger debut.
Aeron Stevens led SMSU with 15 points, followed by Micah Schlaak with 13. Stevens also had six rebounds and five assists.
The Tigers return to the court on Saturday (Nov. 14), taking on host Concordia-St. Paul at 4 p.m.
