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Tournament Central

The 13th-ranked Tigers face the 23rd-ranked Buffaloes of West Texas A&M on Saturday (Mar. 12) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Hamilton Fieldhouse in Edmond, Okla. Game time is set for 8:30 pm. The Tigers are making their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Mark Johnson and 11th overall since joining NCAA Division II in 1991-92.

The Tigers are coming off their first ever MIAA Championship after defeating then No. 8 ranked Missouri Southern in the finals of the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., last weekend. It was the 21st conference championship (regular season and tournaments included) for the Tigers all time in men's basketball. 

Fort Hays State (25-6) joins ninth-ranked Missouri Southern (25-4) and Washburn (18-9) as the three teams from the MIAA in the regional field. FHSU is the No. 4 seed, while MSSU is the No. 2 seed and Washburn is the No. 7 seed.

West Texas A&M (23-6) is the No. 5 seed. The Buffaloes are one of three teams from the Lone Star Conference South Division in the field. The other two, No. 3 seed Tarleton State and No. 6 seed Midwestern State, meet each other in the opening round. Top seeded Central Oklahoma is the only representative from the Lone Star Conference North Division. The Bronchos open with No. 8 seed Texas A&M-International of the Heartland Conference.

This is the second straight year the Tigers have appeared in the tournament and fourth time in the last six years under Coach Johnson. The Tigers advanced to the regional semifinals last year before falling to last year's MIAA champ Central Missouri. They defeated this year's regional host, Central Oklahoma, in the opening round last year.

Dominique Jones enters the tournament as the leading scorer for FHSU at 17.9 points per game. He leads the MIAA and ranks fourth in the nation for assists per game (6.4). He was named the MIAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Earlier this week he was named to the Daktronics All-South Central Region First Team.

Dijon Smith continues to rank second on the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game. He has been solid on the boards lately, moving up to second on the team in rebounds at 6.0 per game. He had a career-high 14 rebounds in the MIAA Tournament championship game. He earned all-tournament honors in Kansas City.

Corbin Kuntzsch played very well at the MIAA Tournament, also earned all-tournament honors. He tied his season high of 18 points in the finals and averaged 15.3 per game in the tournament. He is fourth on the team in scoring at rebounding at 10.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Kuntzsch is 11th on the all-time scoring list at FHSU with 1,192 points.

Ken Bowman is the third-leading scorer on the team at 10.8 points per game. Bowman also ranks third on the team in rebounds, averaging 5.8 per game. He is shooting 62.2 percent from the field for the season.

Karron McKenzie is the top scorer off the bench for FHSU at 7.8 points per game. He had a solid performance at the MIAA Tournament, scoring in double figures twice and pulling down seven rebounds twice. He averaged 12.3 points per game in the tournament.

Moses Dayee provides outside shooting punch for the Tigers off the bench at 7.4 points per game. He buried three 3-point field goals in the MIAA Tournament championship game and ranks second on the team in baskets beyond the arc with 58.

Ben Congiusta also provides the Tigers punch from the outside as the only non-senior in the starting lineup. Congiusta has been a key defender for the Tigers down the stretch, but continues to shoot the ball at a high rate from the outside. He has 53 3-point field goals to his credit this season.

Matt Simmons is the top rebounder for the Tigers at 6.3 per game. He also chips in 4.4 points per game in the post.