HAYS, Kan. – Marcus Cooper scored 22 points, Jared Vitztum added his first career double-double and Fort Hays State used their best shooting game of the season to beat Central Oklahoma 90-84 Saturday afternoon at Gross Coliseum.

Vitztum, hit five of the Tigers 13 threes and scored 20 points along with 12 rebounds, both career highs. Brady Werth added 12 points and nine boards for the Tigers (11-4, 5-2 MIAA) who shot 60.4-percent and picked up third straight win and ninth of their last 10 games.

The Tigers recorded assists on 21 of their 32 baskets led by a career-high 12 from Kyler Kinnamon who moves into fourth in FHSU history with 379.

Mark Johnson Postgame Interview

Jared Vitztum Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

The Tigers used a 14-5 run to build a nine-point lead with 6:54 to play in the first half. UCO (8-7, 1-5 MIAA) responded with a 14-5 run of their own to close out the half and lead 40-38 at halftime.

Vitztum hit a three which was followed by a Werth steal which led to an Aaron Nicholson layup put the Tigers up nine with 15:19 to play and would lead by 10 with a little over 13 minutes to play.

UCO rallied and tied the game 72-72 with 5:54 to play but a 10-0 run by the Tigers which included four points each from Cooper and Payton Stephens over the next two minutes and 19 seconds pushed the lead back to 10.

Loyola-Chicago transfer Adarius Avery scored 26 and pulled down 12 rebounds and Ashford Golden added 23 points to lead the Bronchos.