The #2 Southewest Baptist Bearcats put four players in double figures,
and used a 41-12 run in the second half to pull away from the Fort Hays
State Tigers, 84-64.
The game was tied at 36 apiece with 90 seconds left in the first half
before SBU would score two more buckets to lead 40-36 at the break. The
Bearcats would use the first 15 minutes of the second half to break the
game open, leading by as much as 33 points with 5:50 remaining.
Matt Rogers led the Bearcats with 20 points. Nick Kovacevich had 19,
D’Ante Harris had 17 and Johnnie Harris added 10 points for SBU.
Brandon Clemons led the ‘Cats with 7 rebounds. Tyrone Evans led the
Tigers with 14 points.
The Bearcats shot 53% (31/58) for the game and hit just 8 of 22 long
range attempts. The Tigers out-rebounded the Bearcats 40-35 but
committed 20 turnovers to 12 for the Bearcats.
“In the first half, we were playing on egg shells,” said SBU head coach
Jeff Guiot. “Our offense execution wasn’t very good early. We were
making more difficult passes but we fixed that in the second half.”
“We are always worried about rebounding and turnovers,” said Guiot. “We
have to get better at rebounding the ball. We made up for it in creating
turnovers. This is a group that cares – maybe too much after that loss.
But we were a different team in the second half.”
The Bearcats improve to 13-1 overall and 6-1 to lead the MIAA while FHSU
falls to 9-5 and 2-5 in the MIAA. The ‘Cats extended their home court
winning streak to 24 games.
The Bearcats hit the road on Wednesday night and travel to Omaha to take
on the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. The Mavericks joined the MIAA this year
and this will be the first ever meeting between the two schools. Tipoff
is 7:30 p.m.
