GOODLAND, Kan. - The Independence Men’s Basketball team continues to grind out tough wins, as they pushed their winning streak to three games with an 85-83 road victory over Fort Hays Tech Northwest Wednesday evening. 

The Pirates once again found themselves trailing early in the first half as the Tigers were able to jump out a 17-8 lead in the first six minutes of the game. Like they have many times throughout the season already, the Pirates battled back as a bucket from Will Lobor brought the Pirates even at 28 with six minutes to go in the first half. The Tigers immediately responded with back to back three pointers to push their lead back up to six. The Pirates had one more first half run in them though, as they finished the half on a 14-6 run to take a 44-40 lead into the halftime locker room. 

The Pirates were able to maintain a slim lead for much of the second half as the game continued to swing back and forth. A 9-2 Pirate run late in the half pushed their lead all the way to 11, their largest of the game, with two minutes to play. The Tigers did not go down without a fight though, as they rattled off eight straight points, aided by some unsuccessful trips to the foul line for Indy, to cut the lead down to three with 35 seconds left.

Trashaun Combs-Pierce pushed the lead back to four as he converted one of two free throws, followed by a quick bucket from the Tigers to trim the lead back down to two with 20 seconds remaining. Sterling Knox calmly stepped to the line and hit two free throws to put the Pirates back up four and seemingly ice the game, as the Tigers scored one final bucket but just before time expired to result in the slim two point road victory for Indy. 

The two teams were just about dead even in most team statistical categories, as the Pirates shot 46.8% from the field to the Tigers 47%. Fort Hays had a slight advantage on the glass, outrebounding Indy 38-35, but the Pirates countered with a slight edge in both bench points and points in the paint. 

In a game that saw six ties and eight lead changes, the Pirates did just enough down the stretch to hold on for a crucial conference road victory, and push themselves into an early season tie for first place in the KJCCC at 4-1. 

Sterling Knox led the way, doing a little bit of everything for the Pirates as he finished with a team high 14 points, and six assists, while also pitching in eight rebounds. Trae Lewis and Lonnie Bass Jr each finished in double figures with 12 points, while Bass Jr. notched another double-double with a game high 14 rebounds. Trashaun Combs-Pierce, Xavier Miller and Sekou Kourouma each pitched in nine points in the victory. 

The Pirates, now at 6-4 overall, will look to continue their hot start to conference play and remain at the top of the KJCCC standings, this Saturday, when they play host to 25th-ranked Garden CIty, tip-off set for 4:00 pm.