By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

EDMOND, Okla. – Fort Hays State couldn’t overcome an early double-figure deficit and lose 81-73 to Central Oklahoma Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House. With the loss, the Tigers (24-4, 18-4 MIAA) tie for second in the MIAA with Pittsburg State and will have the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament and play at noon on Thursday.

The Broncos (18-10, 12-10 MIAA) used an early 14-2 run to build an 11-point first quarter lead and would never trail the rest of the day. The Tigers trailed  by 19 with 2:05 to play in the third quarter, then put together a 17-2 run over the next four minutes to close the gap to four which would be the closest they would get.

Tony Hobson Postgame Interview

 

Game Highlights

 

The Tigers shot 27-percent in the first half and finished at 37-percent for the game but were 7-of-29 from beyond the arc. UCO knocked down 8-of-15 from 3-point range while shooting 55-percent. They were 27-of-32 from the free throw line where they outscored the Tigers by 11.

Paige Lunsford led three Tigers in double-figures with 16 points. Nikola Kacperska added 14 and Beth Bohuslavsky 13.