Jeff Weseloh (SBU Sports Information) Bolivar, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University men’s basketball team came up just short on Thursday evening, falling 59-55 to Fort Hays State. With the loss SBU drops to 14-13 (7-11 MIAA) on the season.
The Bearcats and Tigers traded baskets to open up the contest and after a pair of free throws from Kalehl Brown with 16:53 left in the half SBU held an 8-4 lead. After a FHSU jumper, the Bearcats answered with a 7-0 run, fueled by two Logan Hovey three’s, to push their lead to 15-6 with 14:35 left in the half. The Bearcats continued to hold the lead, and a Kalund Brown three with 10:45 left in the half gave SBU a 20-12 lead. FHSU answered with a three, but a Hovey old fashioned three-point play maintained the eight point advantage for SBU. However, FHSU would use a 14-5 run as the Bearcats would trail 26-25 with 3:52 remaining in half. Another Hovey old fashioned three-point play once again gave the Bearcats the lead, but the two teams would go back-and-forth to close out the half with SBU trailing 31-30.
Opening up the second half, the two team again traded buckets as the Bearcats and Tigers were tied 35-35 with 16:26 to go in the contest. Over the next seven minutes, the Tigers opened up the game using a 13-0 run as SBU trailed 48-35 with 9:29 to go in the game. SBU started to chip away at the lead, using a Hovey layup, Matt Ridder three, and a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 48-42 with 7:24 remaining. Fort Hays responded by pushing their lead back to 11 at 55-44 with 4:35 remaining, but the Bearcats continued to fight. Cartier Dean responded with five straight points, followed by two free throws from Brian Patterson, as SBU trailed 55-51 with 2:00 remaining. Fort Hays answered back with a bucket, but a Ridder three brought SBU within three with 1:31 remaining. After a defensive stand, Dean connected on a free throw to cut the deficit to two at 57-55 with 51 seconds, but in the end the Bearcats were forced to foul as they fell 59-55.
Logan Hovey led the Bearcats with 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Brian Patterson and Cartier Dean both chipped in 8 points. As a team SBU shot 34.0% from the field, 27.3% from beyond the arc, and 68.4% from the line.
SBU will return to action on Saturday, February 25th for their final home contest of the season against Nebraska-Kearney. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.
