HAYS, Kan. – It was a Senior Day to remember for the Fort Hays State Tigers who turned a 16-point first half deficit into an 87-80 win over Northeastern State to keep their MIAA Tournament hopes alive. The Tigers bounce back after back-to-back losses and have won six of their last eight and are currently tied with Central Oklahoma for the final two spots in next month’s conference tournament.
After a back-and-forth first six minutes the RiverHawks (17-10, 10-8 MIAA) went on a 20-4 run, which included 5-for-5 three-point shooting, to build a 30-14 lead. The Tigers (13-13, 6-11 MIAA) answered with a 19-8 run to pull within five and trailed by eight at halftime after NSU’s Caleb Smith hit a three at the horn.
FHSU was still down eight with 15:31 to play when they went a 33-8 run to go up 73-56 with 5:21 to play. During the run, the Tigers went 12-for-12 from the floor including five three-pointers and NSU to 3-of-15 shooting.
Fort Hays State made things a little tougher than necessary down the stretch, hitting only 13 of 20 free throws.
After shooting 41-percent in the first half, the Tigers went 15-for-25 in the second half and finished 50-percent for the game against a RiverHawk defense that had the best field goal percentage defense this season. FHSU finished 10-for-21 from beyond the arc, six of them in the second half.
Jared Vitztum went 10-foir-14 from the floor including 3-of-4 from three and led the Tigers with a career-high 25 points. Jake Hutchings went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc and scored 18. Perry Carroll added 13 with Devin Davis and Nyjee Wright both scoring 11. All of Wright’s came from the free throw line.
The Tigers play at Central Oklahoma Thursday then close out the regular season next Saturday at Newman.