Tigers pull away late to beat No. 25 MissourI Southern

HAYS, Kan. – Marcus Cooper and Devin Davis both hit two free throws in the final seven seconds and Fort Hays State scored the final six points to edge No. 25 Missouri Southern State 89-84 Thursday night at Gross Coliseum. The Tigers rallied from a 12-point first half deficit for their fifth straight home win over the Lions and lock up a fourth place finish in the MIAA.

Mark Johnson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

The Tigers (17-10, 11-7 MIAA) led by four early but a 10-0 Lions run put them eight with 11 minutes to play in the first half. On strength on red-hot 3-point shooting, MSSU (22-6, 13-5 MIAA) extended their lead to 12 at the 5:11 mark. FHSU closed the half on a 12-4 run and pulled within four on Nyjee Wright’s tip in at the horn.

Marcus Cooper scored the first two baskets of the second half to tie the game 41-41. A Brady Werth jumper gave the Tigers their biggest lead at 65-60 with just under 10 minutes to play but Southern answered with back-to-back threes to pull within one.

The last nine minutes saw seven ties and seven lead changes with the Tigers taking the lead for good a Trey O’Neil layup with 20 seconds to play.

Marcus Cooper got a key steal in the lane and was intentionally fouled with seven seconds to play. After hitting both free throws. Devin Davis was fouled on the ensuing inbound and hit both of his free throws with six seconds left to seal the win.

Brady Werth led the Tigers with 19 points and nine rebounds before fouling out with a little over two minutes to play. Marcus Cooper added 18 points and seven boards. Jared Vitztum scored 11 and had six rebounds and Kyler Kinnamon scored all 10 of his points in the second half and dished out seven assists with one turnover and four steals.

Cam Martin led the Lions with 29 points and eight boards. Braelon Walker scored all of his 17 points in the second half while Kinzer Lambert added 16.

The Tigers close out the regular season Saturday afternoon against Pittsburg State where they will honor seniors Brady Werth, Kyler Kinnamon, Marcus Cooper, Trey O’Neil and Grant Holmes.