Box Score
Northwest Missouri State pulled off a stunner in Hays on Saturday (Jan. 29), hitting a basket with 0.7 seconds remaining to break a tie and defeat the No. 7 Tigers 75-73. The Bearcats got revenge, after the Tigers defeated them in Maryville, Mo., earlier this year on a 3-point field goal in the final seconds to also break a tie. Fort Hays State is now 17-3 overall and 11-3 in the MIAA.
Dominique Jones hit a huge 3-point field goal with 20 seconds remaining to tie the score. The Bearcats held for the last shot and point guard DeShaun Cooper held for the last shot. As he drove into the lane, a swarm of Tigers converged on him, but he was barely able to get a pass away as he was hanging in the air. He found Jake Reinders, who hit a banker just a few feet from the basket to lift the Bearcats to the upset.
This is a loss that could come around to bite the Tigers later in the year. Just as soon as they tied Missouri Southern at the top of the conference standings earlier in the week on Wednesday, the Tigers could fall back behind the Lions by a game pending on the results of Southwest Baptist at Missouri Southern on Saturday night. Also, it drops them out of the five-way tie of teams at the top of the South Central Region all with two losses. The Tigers really need to bear down now and get wins over two better teams in the MIAA on this three-game homestand.
Free-throw shooting killed the Tigers in a game where the Bearcats dictated the pace throughout. Amazingly, the Tigers outshot the Bearcats from the field 57.8 percent to 43.1 percent, but the Tigers hit just 15-of-27 free-throws, including just a 41.7 percent effort in the first half when they could have easily built a lead. A rash of turnovers also killed the Tigers, committing 13 to just four for the Bearcats.
Dominique Jones led FHSU with 23 points and seven assists. He was 6-of-6 at the free-throw line and hit three 3-point field goals. Ken Bowman and Dijon Smith each had 14, but went a combined 2-of-10 at the free-throw line.
Elijah Allen and Kyle Haake led NWMSU (5-13, 3-11 MIAA) with 18 points each. Haake heated up from 3-point range in the second half, when he hit three of his four in the game. DeShaun Cooper was the difference in the game for the Bearcats, as his quickness into the lane set up so many shots for his teammates. He finished with a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists, getting his final assist on the game-winning basket.
The Tigers look to rebound from the loss on Wednesday when they host Missouri Western at 7:30 pm. Missouri Western was the team that handed FHSU its first loss of the season earlier in the year in St. Joseph by just one point.
