By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

The Fort Hays State Tigers couldn’t overcome 22 turnovers as they let a 15-point second half lead slip away in a 79-77 to Northeastern State Saturday afternoon at the NSU Event Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The loss drops the Tigers to 16-12 and 9-10 in the MIAA while the RiverHawks improve to 7-19 and 5-14 in the conference. FHSU will be the No. 9 seed and play at Washburn in the first round of the MIAA tournament Monday. NSU grabs the 12th and final spot into the tournament.

Mark Johnson

Game Highlights

The Tigers shot 54-percent in the first half including 8-of-16 from 3-point range in building a 12-point halftime lead. A James Fleming 3-pointer pushed the lead to 15 with 18:04 to play but the RiverHawks outscore the Tigers 32-10 over the next 12 minutes to go up seven.

The Tigers had a chance to tie or win the game late by a turnover by Tom Gabric prevented a shot attempt with three seconds to play. James Fleming did get a shot away from mid-court after two missed NSU free throws but the shot came up short.

Fleming led the Tigers with 20 points, Royce Williams add 19, 15 of them in first half Jake Stoppel scored 13 and Drew Kite grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds.

NSU scored 28 points off the Tigers 22 turnovers and outscored FHSU 28-18 in the paint.