HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State made a late rally but missed two three-pointers in the closing seconds and lost 75-72 to Washburn in front of 2,575 Saturday afternoon at Gross Coliseum.
The Tigers (7-9, 1-7 MIAA) had a couple of early two-point leads but after a 12-0 run by Washburn (9-8, 4-3 MIAA) would never lead again. After tying the game a couple of times late in the first half, the Ichabods got three 3-pointers from Tyler Geiman and closed on a 10-2 run to lead 34-26 at halftime.
Washburn pushed the lead to 14 with 13:14 to play but the Tigers battled back with a 22-11 run over the next eight and-a-half minutes to pull within three on an Aaron Nicholson 3-pointer with 5:39 to play.
After the Ichabods pushed the lead to seven with 2:14 left, the Tigers made one final surge. Devin Davis hit a shot in the lane to close within give. After two missed free throws from Washburn’s Drew Maschoff, Jake Hutchings scored following an offensive rebound to cut the lead to 73-70.
Following a Washburn turnover, Aaron Nicholson scored in the lane to close the gap to one. Maschoff was fouled and hit two free throws with 15 seconds to play to push the lead back to three. Nicholson missed on a three then after grabbing the offensive rebounds, Jake Hutchings missed a three at the horn.
Jared Vitztum led the Tigers with 21 points and 10 rebounds before leaving the game midway through the second half with an ankle injury. Nicholson added 17 and Alvin Thompson 11.
The Tigers shot 48-percent and were 8-of-22 from beyond the arc and 16-of-20 from the free throw line.
Washburn, who was held to a season-low in points Thursday at Nebraska-Kearney, shot 58-percent in the second half and 53-percent for the game and 11-of-23 from beyond the arc.