HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State 70-54 on Sunday (Nov. 14) to move to 2-0 on the season. The Tigers scored the first bucket of the game and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way for the second straight game.
FHSU built an 18-point lead by halftime, 35-17, and the lead reached its peak margin of 27 in the second half on a Nyjee Wright 3-point field goal with 10:37 to play. SWOSU scored the game's final five points to get the margin back inside of 20.
Jared Vitztum had a big double-double performance of 19 points and 17 rebounds, while also handing out three assists. Wright had 14 points and Geoff Hamperian had 11 as both hit three 3-point field goals in the game. Kaleb Hammeke provided 13 points and had a team-high four assists.
The Tigers finished with their same-exact shooting percentage from the first game, hitting 25-of-58 shots from the field (43.1 percent). FHSU had 10 3-point field goals made on Sunday compared to nine on Saturday.
Jaylan Williams led the SWOSU scoring effort with 13 points on a 5-of-9 shooting effort from the field. FHSU held SWOSU to just 32.7 percent shooting overall.
The Tigers will get a strong test in their next game when they host nationally ranked Colorado School of Mines in Hays on Thursday (Nov. 18) at 7 pm. The Orediggers were tabbed No. 5 in the NABC Preseason Top 25 Poll but have started the season 0-2.