HAYS, Kan. - Hot shooting, especially from beyond the arc, helped Fort Hays State to hand the Lincoln men's basketball team a 79-65 loss in LU's final road game of the season on Saturday (Feb. 20).

Fort Hays State shot .542 from the floor and .600 from three-point range, with FHSU using several big treys late in the game to pull away from what was otherwise a closely-contested game. The Blue Tigers, meanwhile, shot .467 overall and were 7-for-19 (.368) from three-point land.

Lincoln (13-13, 9-11 MIAA) started the game hot, scoring the contest's first 10 points and leading 13-2 with 13:47 to play in the first half. Fort Hays State (18-8, 12-8 MIAA) answered with a 14-3 run to tie the game at 16 with just under 10 minutes to go, and then took the lead for good on a layup at the 5:46 mark. After trailing by as many as eight, LU scored the final four points of the half to go into the intermission down 33-29.

A three-pointer from O'Shai Clark pulled the Blue Tigers to within 43-41 of Fort Hays State with 13:19 remaining, but FHSU scored the game's next six points to regain the momentum. For most of the second half, Lincoln kept its deficit within single digits, including trailing by five, 59-54, at the game's final media timeout.

A pair of free throws increased the FHSU lead to seven, but an old-fashioned three-point play from Jaylon Smith pulled Lincoln to within four. That ended up being as close as the Blue Tigers would get, however, as Fort Hays State hit four long distance shots down the stretch, with the final two pushing the FHSU advantage back into double-digits.

Anthony Virdure led Lincoln with 20 points and dished five assists to go with two rebounds and a steal. Smith finished with 15 points and three boards while Richie Lewis led LU with six assists. Lewis also tallied nine points and two rebounds.

Clark also finished in double digits, scoring 11 points. Rod Ollison had six points, two rebounds and a block while Tacourrus Mattox rounded out the scoring with four points. Aaron Spudich led the Blue Tigers with five rebounds while DeAnthony Wilson and Chase Morfeld each had one apiece.

The Blue Tigers will play the final two games of 2015-16 in the friendly confines of Jason Gym, beginning on Wednesday (Feb. 24) with a 7:30 p.m. CST contest against Southwest Baptist. It will be Lincoln's Blue & White Out game, and LU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will collect donations to the Make-A-Wish Foundation throughout the night.