Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's basketball team will finish its final regular-season road trip as the Lions head to Fort Hays State to take on the Tigers. Tip off from Gross Memorial Coliseum is slated for 7:30 pm Thursday night.
Game Information
Teams: (#25/23) Missouri Southern (22-5, 13-4 MIAA) at Fort Hays State (16-10, 10-7 MIAA)
Date: February 28, 2019
Tip-Off: 7:30 PM
Location: Hays, Kan.
Site: Gross Memorial Coliseum
Series Record: FHSU leads 32-21
Coaches: Jeff Boschee (98-50 overall/at MSSU - 5th year). Mark Johnson (343-163 overall/at FHSU)
Media Coverage
MSSU Radio: Mike McClure - Play by play - Fox Sports Joplin - 101.3, 107.9 FM, AM 1340, 1560, KXMS 88.7 FM
Internet Audio: http://www.mssulions.com
Live Video: http://themiaanetwork.com/mssulions
Live Stats: https://fhsuathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Lions on Facebook: Facebook.com/mososports
Lions on Twitter: @mososports; @mssumensbball
The Series
Fort Hays holds a 32-21 advantage over the Lions. Prior to the 2007-08 season, all of the games came when both teams were in the CSIC. Hays had won five in a row, before the Lions defeated the Tigers in the first-round of the 2014 NCAA Central Regional. The Tigers have had two separate streaks of five wins in a row. Southern dropped seven straight games from 1982 to 1985. The largest margin of victory for the Lions came on Feb. 3, 1978 when Southern defeated the Tigers by a 19-point margin. The largest margin of victory for the Tigers came in the 1987-88 season when Hays defeated Southern twice by the margins of 26 and 44 points. At home, Southern is 15-8 against the Tigers. The Lions are 4-19 in Hays and are 2-5 in neutral site games.
MIAA Team Stat Leaders
The Lions, as a team, lead the MIAA in three point attempts, defensive rebounds, free throw attempts, free throws made, scoring and total rebounds.
MIAA Individual Stat Leaders
Cam Martin leads the MIAA in field goal percentage, free throw attempts and free throws made. Elyjah Clark leads the MIAA in three point attempts, minutes per game and total minutes.
Preseason No. 1
The Lions were picked number one in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll this season.
Streak Stopper
Coming into the season Elyjah Clark had made a three pointer in 47-straight games, dating back to his freshman season. Clark, however, missed out on a three in the first game of the year, but has made a three in each game since, taking his current streak to 26.
Cam You Score A Lot?
Cam Martin tied a MSSU single-game record with 49 points at Minnesota State. The mark tied Carl Tyler from 1984. Coincidently, in his second game as a Lion, former guard CJ Carr scored 47 points against the same Minnesota State team two years ago.
Coach of the Year
Jeff Boschee was named the 2018 MIAA Coach of the Year. Boschee has coached the Lions to a 20-win season for the second time in his four-year career. Last year, the Lions were picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll and the Lions finished the season second overall with two wins over regular-season MIAA Champ Northwest Missouri.
Three-Point Streak
The Lions failed to make a three-pointer at Arkansas Tech in their match-up in 2012-13. It was the first time in 403 games that Southern had failed to hit a three pointer, dating back to Jan. 20, 1999 against Missouri S&T. The Lions have had a three in 200-straight games since Arkansas Tech in 2012-13.
National Ranking
The Lions are ranked No. 25 in the NABC poll this week and 23rd in the D2SID's Poll. In the history of the NABC Poll, the Lions have been ranked 59 times, including 23 consecutive weeks. The team has been No. 1 once (in the 2011 season).
Records Abound
The Lions broke or tied four school records in the 137-50 win over Baptist Bible. Southern tied the school record for points in a game (137) and field goal attempts (95), while breaking the records for rebounds (77) and assists (37).
Put-backs R' Us
Kinzer Lambert had eight offensive rebounds against Pittsburg State at home. Of the eight offensive boards, four were turned into put backs by Lambert himself.
Perfection
For just the third time in program history, the Lions went perfect at home during the regular season (13-0). Only the 1969-70 (11-0) and the 1999-2000 (18-0) teams were also perfect at home. The Lions are 54-12 in Jeff Boschee's tenure at home.
Perfection II
The Lions are perfect this season when they do the following: scoring 90 or more points (10-0), out shooting their opponents (18-0), having more assists (16-0) and playing on Tuesday (3-0).
Hard Working Man
Elyjah Clark leads the MIAA in minutes per game and total minutes.
Three's Company
The Lions shattered the previous MSSU school record for three pointers in a game against Randall last year as Southern made 20 three pointers against the Saints. The previous record of 15 was set in 2003 against St. Gregory's.
Home Sweet Home
Missouri Southern can count on some of the best fan support in Division II. This season, the Lions rank 8th nationally in home attendance, averaging 1,684 fans per game. That number is 2nd in the MIAA.
Holy Points Batman
The Lions scored 137 points against Baptist Bible to tie a school record. It was the most points since the scored 110 last year against Randall were the most the team has scored since they scored 113 against outhwest Baptist in 2014.
Super Tuesday
The Lions are 3-0 on Tuesday's this year and a perfect 9-0 in Jeff Boschee's tenure.
Corndogs Jackie
Southern is averaging 86 points per game this season and the Lions have topped the century mark five times.
Bevo Francis Award Watchlist
Sophomore Cam Martin has been named to the Small College Basketball Bevo Francis Award Watchlist. The award is for the Division II Player of the Year. Martin was named to the top-100 list and Friday was named as a top-50 player.
Record-Breaking Sniper
Junior Elyjah Clark already has the Missouri Southern single-season record for three pointers with 110. Clark broke the career record against Fort Hays State last weekend and has 274 career three pointers now as a junior. With one season left to play, Clark now can target the MIAA record of 370.
Reachin' A Grand
Elyjah Clark went over 1,000 points in his career with 18 points against Minnesota-Crookston in the Puerto Rico Tournament. He currently has 1,338 in his career and is the 21st person in MSSU history to crack the 1,000 point plateau. Clark has moved into 11th place all-time, passing Taevaunn Prince. Next up is Terry Shumpert at 1,379 points.
Elyjah For Three
Clark has the top-two single-season three-point totals in MSSU history and his 274 threes made in his two-plus year career rank first. His career three-point percentage of .408 is second-best all-time, while he also tied the single-game record for three's made with nine. He has the season and career record for three pointers per game, while also holding the MSSU season and career record for consecutive games with a three (47).
Coaches Show
This year, Jeff Boschee and women's coach Ronnie Ressel will be part of the Missouri Southern Coaches Show. The show is Monday night's at 6 pm and originates from Hackett Hot Wings in downtown Joplin. The show can be heard live on 101.3 and 107.9 FM, as well as streamed on www.mssulions.com.
Lions On The Radio
The majority of the Lions games this season can be heard on the Missouri Southern Radio Network in Joplin. Southern is partnering with Fox Sports Joplin, the Lions can be heard on 101.3 FM, 101.7 FM, 88.7 FM and AM 1560.
Lions on TV
All Missouri Southern conference home games will be brought to you live this season courtesy of KGCS TV in Joplin. Fans can catch the action over the air live on Digital Channel 22 as well as on local cable systems.
Up Next
The Lions will finish off the regular season with a road game at Nebraska-Kearney at 4 pm.
