HAYS, Kan. - Fort Hays State scored the first nine points and built a 17-point lead 11 minutes in their game with Central Missouri and cruised to a 84-48 rout of the Mules Saturday at Gross Coliseum.
It's Tigers (11-9, 11-9 MIAA) largest margin of victory in an MIAA game as win for the eighth time in 10 games.
Central Missouri (6-14, 6-14 MIAA) closed the gap to 12 at halftime but Jared Vitztum scored the Tigers first 12 points of the second half as they quickly pushed the lead to 17. They followed that up with a 19-3 run to push the lead to 33 with 10:34 to play. The lead would grow to 39 with a little over a minute to play.
Vitztum led the Tigers with 23 points and eight rebounds. He went 9-for-9 from the floor including three 3s and 2-of-3 from the free throw line.
Bjarni Jonsson scored all 12 of his points in the first half. Kaleb Hammeke added 12 points with six assists and just one turnover.
The Tigers play their final home game Tuesday in a makeup with Missouri Western State Tuesday at 5:30 pm.