Box Score

Updated National Bracket Heading into Sunday

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Red-hot shooting lifted the No. 13 Tigers past No. 23 ranked West Texas A&M in the opening round of the South Central Regional of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Tigers rolled to a 75-49 win over the Buffaloes, moving to Sunday's regional semifinal against No. 4 ranked and tournament host Central Oklahoma.

The Tigers jumped out to a 23-6 lead in just over six minutes of action and never looked back. The Buffs never pulled closer than 13 points the rest of the way. FHSU took its largest lead of the game of 29 points with 39 seconds remaining before the Buffs hit a late three pointer, resulting in the final margin of 26.

The Tigers shot 55.8 percent from the field (24-of-43) and 50 percent beyond the 3-point line (11-of-22). The finished 16-of-23 at the free-throw line (69.6 percent).

The hot shooting coupled with tough defense from the Tigers helped build the large lead. The Tigers held WTAMU to 30 percent shooting from the field, including just a 17.6 percent effort beyond the 3-point line.

Corbin Kuntzsch led the way for FHSU with 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, which included two 3-point field goals, and a 7-of-8 effort at the free-throw line. Dominique Jones had 15, burying four 3-point field goals, and added a team-high seven assists.

Moses Dayee had a big game off the bench, hitting four 3-point field goals for all 12 of his points. Matt Simmons was close to a double-double in 34 minutes off the bench with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Fort Hays State moves on to take on fourth-ranked Central Oklahoma, the No. 1 seed in the regional and tournament host, on Sunday evening at 7:30 pm. The other semifinal features No. 2 seed Missouri Southern against No. 6 seed Midwestern State at 5 pm.