KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State moved on to the MIAA Tournament Semifinals on Friday night (Mar. 4) with a 71-55 win over Missouri Southern. The No. 3 seeded Tigers fought off an early 10-point deficit and stormed past the No. 6 seed Lions for a 35-30 halftime lead thanks to a 13-0 run at the end of the first half. The Tigers went on to lead the entire second half and won by 16.
The Tigers, ranked No. 21 in the latest NABC Top 25 Poll, scored only six points in the first nine minutes, struggling to a 1-of-9 clip from the field to start. In that span, Missouri Southern built a 10-point lead at 16-6. Down eight with 3:55 remaining in the first half, the Tigers went on a tear and scored the final 13 points of the half to take their five-point lead to the locker room. After the 1-of-9 start, the Tigers finished the half at 50 percent from the field (11-of-22), hitting 10 of their last 13 shots of the half.
The Tigers carried their momentum through to the opening of the second half when Nyjee Wright hit a 3-point field goal right away. The run carried over from the first half culminated at 18-0 on a jumper by Bjarni Jonsson, putting the Tigers up 40-30.
Missouri Southern chipped away at the lead a bit and then went to a zone about midway through the second half. But the Tigers were still able to hit big shots in the gaps of the defense, never allowing the Lions closer than seven points the rest of the way. A step back 3-point jumper by Nyjee Wright was a dagger with 3:18 to play, pushing the Tiger lead up to 14.
Jared Vitztum, who was big in the first half for the Tigers with 15 points, finished with 24 on 8-of-15 shooting from the field with three 3-point field goals. He had five points at the free-throw line. He produced another big double-double, pulling down a game-high 16 rebounds. He also tied for top assist honors on the team with Wright, each with four.
Wright and Kaleb Hammeke finished with 14 points each. Wright, like Vitztum, hit three 3-point field goals. Quinten Rock provided a big spark off the bench in the second half by hitting a couple of 3-point field goals and finished with eight points.
Stan Scott played all 40 minutes for the Lions and scored 20 points, while pulling down eight rebounds. RJ Smith had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Christian Bundy was just shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Avery Taggart reached double figures with 10 points. The Lions played only six players the entire game.
Fort Hays State will take on Northwest Missouri State in the semifinals on Saturday night (Mar. 5) at 8:15 pm. The Bearcats won both regular season meetings with the Tigers, the most recent being last Saturday in Maryville in a game that decided one of the MIAA regular season champions.