By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Pro Football Writer

HAYS, Kan. – Craig Nicholson hit s free throw with 7.6 seconds to play to break a 75-all tie, then Southwest Minnesota State’s Ryan Bruggeman missed a driving layup with 0:01 to play and the Fort Hays State Tigers held off the Mustangs 76-75 to win their season opener in front of 1,905 Saturday night at Gross Coliseum.

Mark Johnson Postgame Interview

Dom Samac Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

The Tigers used  a 14-2 first half run to go up 10 and led 37-31 at halftime, but the SMSU responded with a 17-3 run to go up four with 16:39 to play.

A 6-0 Tiger run capped by a Kenny Enoch stick-back bucket off a missed Dom Samac free throw pushed the lead to four with five minutes to play. The Mustangs scored five straight to tie the game 69-69 with 3:27 to play.

A Samac layup put the Tigers up 75-74 with 0:57 left. Shaun Condon tied the game for the Mustangs, hitting one of two free throws with 0:34 left. Nicholson missed the first of his two free throws but knocked in the second following a timeout.

Samac led the Tigers with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting and had a team-high six rebounds. Rob Davis hit three 3-pointers and added 19 while Kenny Enoch scored 11 and Hadley Gillum 10.

Joey Bartlett led the Mustangs with 27 points, one off his career high. Bartlett  was 10-of-16 from the field including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.

The Tigers win despite 16-of-30 free throw shooting.

FHSU closes out play in the MIAA/NSIC Challenge against the University of Sioux Falls Sunday at 4 p.m. The Cougars beat Emporia State 85-81 in Saturday’s first game.

HAYS, Kan. – Senior quarter Treveon Albert accounted for all four Fort Hays State touchdowns, leading the Tigers to a 28-14 win over No. 20 Central Missouri Saturday afternoon in front of 2,975 at Lewis Field. They finish the season 8-3, tying the school record for wins, and tie for third place in the MIAA with the Mules, their highest finish ever.

Chris Brown Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

Albert threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Derek Kendall-Campbell with 0:13 to play in the first quarter to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead. His 44-yard strike to senior Garrett Holle, following a Doyin Jibowu interception, gave FHSU a 14-0 lead with 6:44 to play in the first half.

Up 14-7 at the half, Albert scored on touchdowns runs of one and 17 yards to push the lead to 28-7.

The Mules got a 13-yard TD pass from Garrett Fugate to Kyle Echols following a Shaquille Cooper fumble to pull within four with 12:13 to play, but the Tiger defense picked off two passes on the Mules final two possessions to end any comeback.

The Tiger came up big all day, picking off four passes and recovering a fumble while sacking Fugate five times. The Tigers held the MIAA leader in total offense to 268 yards, 220 below their season average and 23 points below their season scoring average.

Brock Long recorded 17 tackles and is just two shy of tying Alex Whitehill’s single-season record of 164 set in 2011. He also recorded 0.5 sacks and is 2.5 behind the single-season record of nine held by Trevell Smittick (1998).

Doyin Jibowo had two interceptions and Sie Doe recorded three sacks and four tackles for loss.

The Tigers rushed for 376 yards led by Shaquille Copper’s ninth career 100-yards game, going for 158 on 26 carries. Albert added 89 and Kendall-Campbell 72. Albert threw for 115 yards with one interception.

Fort Hays State’s win over Central Missouri was the first in Hays since 1965. The Mules had won five straight in Hays, all in MIAA play since the Tigers joined the conference in 2006. FHSU has now won two straight against UCM after losing eight straight.

FHSU Athletics

MARSHALL, Minn. – Fort Hays State ran away from Southwest Minnesota State early on Saturday and never looked back in a 71-34 win to go 2-0 on the opening weekend of the season. The 10th-ranked Tigers forced 26 turnovers out of the home team and committed just 10 in the blowout win.

Fort Hays State built a 19-7 after the first quarter and then extended the lead to 14 by halftime at 31-17. The Tigers dominated the third quarter 19-2 to extend the lead to a 31-point margin entering the fourth quarter. The final margin settled at 37 after the Tigers took the final quarter by six points.

Beth Bohuslavsky, Chelsea Mason and Taylor Chandler paced a balanced scoring effort for the Tigers, each with 13 points. Jill Faxon scored 11 points to also reach double figures. Bohuslavsky led the team in assists and steals with four of each, while Mason pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

Lauren Hedlund led the Mustangs in points with nine. Three Mustangs tied for a team-high five rebounds.

The Tigers return home for another pair of regional games against NCAA Division II opponents on November 20 and 21 in Hays. FHSU takes on St. Cloud State and Regis University.

FHSU Athletics

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Volleyball defeated Southwest Baptist on Saturday in the regular season finale by a score of 3-0. The Tigers moved to 21-12 overall and finished 10-8 in the MIAA with the win. Southwest Baptist finished its season at 5-24 overall and 3-15 in the MIAA. The Tigers finished the regular season sixth in the MIAA.

The Tigers blazed to 25-17 and 25-15 wins in the first two sets, hitting .333 as a team in both. Southwest Baptist remained close in the third set all the way to a 19-19 tie, but FHSU won six of the final seven points to take the set.

Leadiing the way for the Tigers was Malllory Flagor with 14 kills and 11 digs for a double-double. Crystal Whitten almost had a double-double with nine kills and 11 digs. Hannah Wagy added to her MIAA leading assist total with 35. The Tigers hit .280 as a team and held the Bearcats to just .115.

Whitten moved past 1,000 kills for her collegiate career in the match. After recording 596 kills at Pittsburg State, she moved past the 400 mark for this season, now at 407. That gives her 1,005 for her career between both schools in just her junior season.

Next for the Tigers is the MIAA Tournament as the Tigers head to Kearney, Neb., on Tuesday (Nov. 17). FHSU grabbed the No. 6 seed in the eight-team tournament and face No. 3 seed Nebraska-Kearney at 7 pm in the opening round. The tournament field is listed below.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 (At higher seed)
Game 1: #8 Emporia State at #1 Central Oklahoma               7 p.m.
Game 2: #5 Missouri Western at #4 Washburn                      7 p.m.
Game 3: #7 Northwest Missouri at #2 Central Missouri         7 p.m.
Game 4: #6 Fort Hays State at #3 Nebraska-Kearney              7 p.m.

Friday, November 20, 2015 (At highest remaining seed after 11/17)
Game 5: Semifinal
Game 6: Semifinal

Saturday, November 21, 2015 (At highest remaining seed after 11/17)
Game 7: MIAA Tournament Championship

FHSU Athletics

MARSHALL, Minn. – For nearly 35 minutes, the 10th-ranked Fort Hays State women’s basketball team struggled in its season opener against Upper Iowa on Friday. The Tigers overcame a poor perimeter shooting performance to get by the Peacocks 74-62 in the opening game of the Applebee’s Classic.

Tony Hobston Postgame Interview

Upper Iowa held a one-point lead, 53-52, entering the fourth quarter, but FHSU outscored UIU 22-9 in the final 10 minutes. FHSU finally grabbed the lead for good with 6:48 remaining in the game when Jill Faxon hit a jumper to put FHSU up by one. The Tigers went on an 11-0 run to close out the game, fueled by six points from Beth Bohuslavsky and three from Faxon.

The Tigers shot just 2-of-17 from beyond the 3-point line (11.8 percent), but managed to shoot much better inside the arc (52.8 percent) to finish at 42.9 percent overall for the game. FHSU did well at the free-throw line, where it went 12-of-14.

FHSU overcame a 50 percent shooting performance by the Peacocks by forcing 30 turnovers. FHSU had just 12 in the game. Upper Iowa outrebounded FHSU 36-27.

Bohuslavsky had a team-high 17 points, while Faxon added 16 and Paige Lunsford had 10. Lunsford led the team in rebounds with five and Bohuslavsky had a team-high three assists.

The Tigers return to the court on Saturday against Applebee’s Classic host Southwest Minnesota State at 5 pm.

FHSU Athletics

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State cruised to a 3-0 win over Missouri Southern on Friday evening (Nov. 13) at home. The Tigers took the match with set wins of 25-18, 25-17, and 25-23. FHSU improved to 20-12 overall and 9-8 in the MIAA with the win. MSSU fell to 2-26 overall, 1-16 in the MIAA.

The Tigers felt little resistance from the Lions in the first two sets. FHSU held MSSU to a .000 hitting percentage in the first two sets, while hitting .324 and .182 to claim the first sets handily. FHSU struggled a bit in the third, but went on a 5-0 run after trailing 19-14. Late kills by Crystal Whitten and Megan Anderson pushed the Tigers to a 25-23 win for the three-set sweep.

Whitten led the Tigers in kills with 11, while also adding a team-best 12 digs for a double-double. Mallory Flagor and Megan Anderson each added nine kills. Anderson hit .500 in the match with just one error. Hannah Wagy provided 37 assists in the match.

Bridgette Jaeger and Callie Whetstone each led MSSU with six kills. Abby Finder had 18 assists and 13 digs for a double-double, while Katie Wiele matched her in digs with 13.

The Tigers close out the regular season on Saturday against Southwest Baptist in Hays at 11:30 am. FHSU will then see which team it will face in the first round of the MIAA Tournament next week.