A dreadful first half by the Griffons cost them against the 10th ranked Fort Hays State Tigers falling 66-53 on Saturday afternoon. Nine different Griffons scored in the contest with Lavonte Douglas and Dylon Frantz leading the way with nine points apiece. Western falls to 6-4 overall and 1-3 in MIAA action.
The Griffon men struggled in all facets of the game in the first half against the Tigers scoring just four points in the first twelve and a half minutes. Western trailed by as many as 29 points (38-9) in the frame but continued to play hard cutting the Tiger lead to 41-17 at the break.
Western finished the half going 0-of-8 from long range making 5-of-31 field goal attempts. A bright spot for the Griffons was they connected on 77.8-percent (7-9) of their free throw attempts. Lavonte Douglas had five points and seven rebounds leading the way for Western.
The Tigers shot 45.8-percent (11-24) from the floor and connected on 16-of-18 free throw attempts. The Tigers had nine different players score in the frame with Markus Yarbrough leading the charge off the bench with nine points.
The Tigers opened up a 28 point lead early in the second half but the Griffons kept battling cutting the lead to 17 at 45-28 after a Deionta Mitchell layup with 16:56 to play in the game. The Tigers were able to push their lead to 27 once again at 59-32 midway through the half to pretty much seal the victory.
Western made a push down the stretch holding the Tigers to just seven points in the final 11:21 of the game cutting the final margin down to 13 after Jordan Yurth’s second three point basket of the game.
The Griffons shot 31.7-percent (20-63) from the half and 4-of-17 from beyond the arc. Douglas led the charge with 14 rebounds while Justin Reid made 3-of-5 shots for six points.
The Tigers shot 45.8-percent (22-48) from the field and connected on 17-of-20 free throws. Ten different Tigers scored with Yarbrough finishing with 11 points and Karron McKenzie dumping in 10. The Tigers improve to 8-1 overall and 2-1 in MIAA play.
Western travels to Topeka, Kan. on Saturday, December 17 to take on the Washburn Ichabods in their last MIAA action of the 2010 season. Game time is set for 7:30 pm from Lee Arena. If you can’t make the game listen to all the action on 680 AM KFEQ.
— MWSU Sports Information —