By NICK McQUEEN

nmcqueen@dailynews.net

Early-season, first-game, anxiety might have played a factor in the performance Saturday night for the Fort Hays State University men's basketball team.

If the jitters were there, though, they weren't evident until the second half at Gross Memorial Coliseum.

Despite what eighth-year head coach Mark Johnson called a "lethargic" defensive effort in the second half, the Tigers were still able to get the season-opening win, 86-65 against an improved Central Christian College team.

"The first half we tried to do things the right way and gave a pretty good effort,"  Johnson said. "I was fairly pleased. They have some good players, one of the best groups they've brought in here."

After a solid first half, Fort Hays (1-0) allowed Central Christian to get hot from 3-point range, where the NAIA Tigers hit eight after the intermission to keep things interesting and ended the night with 12 from long range.

Still, a first-half effort, highlighted by a solid night for Fort Hays' Scott City duo of sophomore Corbin Kuntzsch and junior Tim Peintner, was enough to get the job done for victory No. 1.

"We played a real nice first half tonight," said Kuntzsch, who had career highs in points (17) and rebounds (11) for the first double-double of his young career. "We did have some first-game jitters and didn't come out with the intensity we needed in the second half."

Peintner added 17 points and nine boards to Fort Hays' attack, which produced a 45-26 lead going into the locker room.

Sparked by the second of three 3-pointers for senior guard Tyrone Evans, the Tigers had a 27-6 run in the first half, capped by eight straight points from Kuntzch and Peintner combined against against Central Christian's zone defense.

"The thing we struggle against the zone is we don't move," Kuntzsch said. "We stand with the ball, and we don't get as many shots that way."

Still, the Tigers shot 46.7 percent from the field in the first half, a number that fell to 35.7 in the second, as Central Christian got hot from the field.

Averaging 90.5 points per game in its first four contests, Central Christian showed signs after the break, connecting on 8-of-16 from downtown and hit 48.3 percent from the floor.

"You don't want to be negative, it is a win, but I was real disappointed with the second-half effort and the outcome."

Fort Hays only outscored the visiting Tigers, 41-39 after the break, but held a huge rebounding advantage at 55-31, a stat that helped in preventing an upset in the season opener.

"When you aren't real focused and playing at a high level defensively, it affects your offense," Johnson said. "You shoot it better when you're playing hard."

Central Christian sophomore Jordan Crawford led all scorers with 20 points, shooting 6-of-16 from the floor after having just six points before the break. Senior guard Sean High, who averaged 18 points in the Tigers' first four games, ended the night with 18, and had 10 in the first half.

"We let up on defense and they are a good shooting team,"  Kuntzsch said. "They're going to put up points if you let up."

Fort Hays maintained the double digit lead throughout the second half, but Central Christian got as close as 13 after three straight 3s out of the locker room.

Sophomore forward Ryan Herrman had a solid night for the Tigers, going 5-for-5 from the floor and scoring 11, while newcomer Jonathan Blake scored 10 in his Tiger debut off the bench. Evans scored nine, going 3-for-10 from the floor. Fort Hays ended the game shooting 40.3 from the floor.

"We're kind of limited in what we do and we have to make shots,"  Johnson said. "A night we didn't shoot it very well is a night we really didn't have to, and still pulled out a victory."