HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State did its part to stay in the MIAA regular season championship picture on Wednesday by defeating Missouri Western at Gross Memorial Coliseum 56-42. The Tigers moved into a three-way tie for first place, after Central Oklahoma lost by one point at home. It all comes down to Saturday to see if there will be an outright champion, or a share of the title. FHSU is now 22-4 overall and 17-4 in the MIAA.
The Tigers used their usual tough defense coupled with limiting possessions to slow down the Griffons' offensive attack. The Tigers initially took the lead and trailed only once when Will Eames of Missouri Western broke a 7-7 tie with a bucket in the early going. Jared Vitztum responded with one of his five 3-point field goals on the night to put the Tigers back on top and they never let go of the lead from that point. Neither team shot over 35 percent from the field in the first half and the Tigers battled to a 21-17 lead at halftime.
The Tigers pushed their lead to double figures seven times in the second half. The Griffons were able to get the lead down to six with 3:28 to play, but the Tigers responded with a quick 5-0 burst to get the lead back to 11. FHSU closed the game on 6-0 run to create the 14-point final margin, which turned out to be the biggest lead of the night.
Vitztum finished with a big double-double on Senior Night with 21 points and 16 rebounds. He became the first player in FHSU men's program history to total at least 1,500 points and 900 rebounds when he secured his seventh rebound of the game. However, by pulling down 16 rebounds, he moved to second all-time in rebounds at FHSU now with 909, passing Mike Pauls (907). Barton Snow is at the top of the list with 980.
Kaleb Hammeke was the only other Tiger to score in double figures in the low-scoring contest. He had 14, so he combined with Vitztum to generate 62.5 percent of the team's points. Hammeke also dished out a team-best eight assists. Bjarni Jonsson was the next-closest to double figures with seven points.
Eames was the only Griffon to reach double figures in scoring with 13 points. Taye Fields had a team-best nine rebounds.
There will be no more than two MIAA regular season men's champions, as Fort Hays State and Northwest Missouri State will face each other in the regular season finale on Saturday at 3:30 pm inside Bearcat Arena in Maryville. Central Oklahoma will be hosting Missouri Southern, also at 3:30 pm. FHSU, Northwest Missouri State, and Central Oklahoma have all mathematically locked up being the top three seeds at the MIAA Tournament. Now it's just a matter of sorting out what each team will be.