Lions squads suffer heartbreak at Fort Hays State

Feb. 25—Both Missouri Southern basketball teams lost in bonus periods on Saturday at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas.

The women played from behind for most of the first half but came back to draw even with the Tigers at the end of the third quarter.

The two teams played to a 10-10 tie in the final stanza. They again tied in the overtime period, this time 8-8. But FHSU got the better of MSSU 14-10 in the second bonus period.

The Lions (19-7, 15-5 MIAA) were led by players coming off the bench as Morgan Meyers tallied 20 and Brandi Hudson added 18. Those two combined to go 19 for 23 on free throws. The team shot 19 for 24.

Kryslyn Jones added 14 and Kaitlin Hunnicutt 12.

FHSU (21-6, 15-6 MIAA) also had four players in double figures. Olivia Hollenbeck led the way with 14, Katie Wagner and Emma Ruddle added 13 while Jessie Sallach scored 11.

MSSU men

The men were in an opposite spot. They jumped out to a huge advantage over the 14th-ranked team in the country at 25-10. The lead was maintained all the way to intermission as the scoreboard showed 35-24 after 20 minutes of play.

The Lions (13-13, 11-9 MIAA) fended off a storming comeback by the Tigers (21-6, 16-5 MIAA) that drew the score to 39-37. Once they stopped the bleeding, the Lions went on a run of their own, taking the lead up to 53-39 with 11:43 left to go.

The lead stayed at multiple possessions until Bjarni Jonsson made a 3-pointer for FHSU to make it 57-56 with 3:22 to play.

Then Kaleb Hammeke hit a dagger triple to tie the game at 63 with 34 seconds left and that shot ultimately forced overtime where the Lions only scored 2 points and suffered a 67-65 loss.

The loss also ends a four-game win streak for Southern.

Avery Taggart led MSSU with 18 points, Vinson Sigmon Jr. scored 15, Parker Long 13 and Darius Dawson 10. Long earned a double-double with 10 rebounds.

Jonsson led FHSU with 17 and Hammeke added 13.

Both MSSU teams come back home on Wednesday for a doubleheader with Washburn. The women tip off at 5:30 p.m. while the men are slated for 7:30 p.m. Then they will both host Northwest Missouri on Saturday to conclude the regular season.