By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
MARYVILLE, Mo. – Fort Hays State took its shot at stopping Northwest Missouri State’s run of consecutive MIAA regular season championships at eight, but came up short after a great second-half run to get the game tied with 11:16 remaining. The No. 13 ranked Bearcats won by a score of 57-49 over the No. 18 ranked Tigers. FHSU finished third in the MIAA standings at 17-5 and finished the regular season at 22-5 overall.
Northwest Missouri State (25-5, 18-4 MIAA) shared the MIAA regular season title with Central Oklahoma (23-5, 18-4 MIAA), which defeated Missouri Southern. It is their ninth straight regular season title, but their seven-year run of winning the title outright came to an end.
After going up 7-6 in the first half, Fort Hays State went cold offensively and saw Northwest Missouri State go on a 15-0 run to take a 21-7 lead. The Tigers were held scoreless for nearly 10 minutes before Jared Vitztum hit a jumper to end the cold spell. The Bearcats went into the locker room with a comfortable 29-15 lead.
That comfortable lead became uncomfortable in the second half as the Tigers began chipping away at the Bearcat lead with their usual tough defense. The Tigers would climb all the way back to even with the Bearcats by going on an 18-4 run, tying the game at 33-33 on a pair of Elijah Nnanabu free throws with 11:16 remaining. In that run, the Tigers went 7-of-12 from the field and held the Bearcats to just 1-of-9 shooting.
The Tigers had a couple of opportunities to take a lead, but came up empty on consecutive trips. The Bearcats then woke from their offensive slumber to go on an 8-0 burst to take a 41-33 lead. Diego Bernard triggered the run for NWMSU, scoring the first five points and then Trevor Hudgins capped it with a transition 3-point bucket with just over seven minutes to go. The Tigers cut the lead to five a couple more times, but the Bearcats held them off the rest of the way.
Vitztum led the Tigers with 17 points and 11 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the season. Kaleb Hammeke also reached double figures with 12 points. Nnanabu provided nine points off the bench.
Bernard led the Bearcats with 18 points, while Hudgins and Luke Waters each had 15.
Fort Hays State will now wait for the official announcement of its opponent for the MIAA Tournament, which begins next week at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
Tourney information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After finishing in third
place in the MIAA regular season standings, just one game back of co-conference
champions Central Oklahoma and Northwest Missouri State, the Fort Hays State
Men’s Basketball team will be the No. 3 seed in the MIAA Championship
Tournament presented by Citizens Bank & Trust. The Tigers will play in the
quarterfinals on Friday at 8:15 pm against No. 6 seed Missouri Southern.
This year’s tournament field returns to 10 teams at historic Municipal
Auditorium in Kansas City after COVID-19 protocols changed the format, field,
and host locations last year. The top 10 teams in the final regular season
standings qualified for the tournament, with the seven-through-10 seeds playing
first-round games on Wednesday. The top six seeds will then open play in the
quarterfinals, with two games on Thursday and two more on Friday. Both
semifinal games will be played on Saturday before the championship game on
Sunday.
Limited single-session and youth tickets are still available in the FHSU
athletics office on campus (Cunningham 138) or over the phone at (785)
628-4050. Tickets can also be purchased online on the Championship information
webpage.
Fort Hays State finished the regular season 22-5 overall and 17-5 in the MIAA.
Missouri Southern finished the season level overall and in MIAA play (14-14,
11-11 MIAA).
If the Tigers advance to the semifinals on Saturday, they would again play at
8:15 pm.
2022 Men’s Basketball
Championship Schedule:
SCHEDULE
Wednesday, March 2 – First
Round
Men’s Game 1 – No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed – 6 p.m.
Men’s Game 2 – No. 7 seed vs. No. 10 seed – 8:15 p.m.
—
Thursday, March 3 –
Quarterfinals Day 1
Men’s Game 3 – No. 1 seed vs. Winner of Game 1 – 6 p.m.
Men’s Game 4 – No. 2 seed vs. Winner of Game 2 – 8:15 p.m.
—
Friday, March 4 –
Quarterfinals Day 2
Men’s Game 5 – No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed – 6 p.m.
Men’s Game 6 – No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed – 8:15 p.m.
—
Saturday, March 5 –
Semifinals
Men’s Game 7 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5 – 6 p.m.
Men’s Game 8 – Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 6 – 8:15 p.m.
—
Sunday, March 6 –
Championship
Men’s Game 9 – Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8 – 3:30 p.m.