Box Score Fort Hays State held a 10-point lead with 6:11 remaining in regulation, but went scoreless the rest of the way allowing 16th-ranked Missouri Southern to force overtime. After Lance Russell hit a 3-point field goal to force a second overtime, the Lions pulled away in the second overtime to escape 80-73 over the Tigers.

Fort Hays State missed its final seven shots in regulation, but continued to play tough defense against the Lions during the drought. Missouri Southern received a huge lift off its bench from Matt Everson who hit two 3-point field goals (his only baskets of the game) to cut the FHSU lead from eight to two points with 2:04 remaining. The Lions missed three more shots before finally tying the game on an inbounds play to Keane Thomann with 37 seconds remaining. A Kendrick Morse floater in the lane at the end of regulation went off the back iron.

The field goal drought continued for FHSU in the first overtime. A pair of free-throws by Morse at the 2:48 mark of the first overtime ended the scoreless drought for FHSU, which spanned a stretch of 8:25. That put the Tigers up 61-59. Missouri Southern hit one of two free-throws to cut the lead back to one with 1:20 remaining, then took the lead on a layup by Jordan Talbert with 40 seconds remaining. Moses Dayee missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 on the next Tiger possession, which allowed the Lions to stretch the lead to 64-61 on a pair of free-throws by Jason Adams with 21 seconds remaining. The field goal drought finally ended on the Tigers' last possession of the as Lance Russell buried a 3-point field goal in the corner to force the second overtime. That basket ended Fort Hays State's field goal drought at almost exactly 11 minutes.

In the second overtime, both teams traded a few baskets early before Jason Adams hit a huge 3-point field goal in the corner to break a 70-70 tie with 1:45 remaining. Karron McKenzie missed the front end of another 1-and-1 situation at the line and Missouri Southern stretched the lead to five on a pair of free-throws by Marquis Addison with a minute remaining. The Tigers could not find another comeback in them as the Lions put the game away at the free-throw line the rest of the way.

This was a frustrating loss for the Tigers, who saw comfortable leads slip away twice in the game. FHSU opened the game on a 14-3 run to lead by 11 early, but careless turnovers allowed the Lions to pull back into the game and eventually take a one-point lead at halftime on a 3-point field goal just before the buzzer. Luckily, the Tiger defense forced the Lions into a lot of careless decisions in the first half as well to the tune of 10 turnovers, but FHSU committed nine before the break.

FHSU hit the first basket of the second half to take the lead back and the Lions tied the game just twice early in the period before FHSU seized control of the game once again. The FHSU lead grew to 11 twice in the second half before the final push by the Lions. By the end of regulation, Missouri Southern held a lead for just a total of 36 seconds in the game.

Before missing their last seven shot attempts of the second half, Fort Hays State was a red-hot 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) from the field after going just 11-of-29 in the first half. That drought pulled the second half shooting percentage all the way back to 43.3 percent in the second half.

Despite the struggles late, Matt Simmons and Karron McKenzie still put up huge numbers for the Tigers. Simmons was very effective on defense in the post all throughout the game and finished with a double-double of 12 points, 13 rebounds with two blocked shots, while playing nearly the entire game with a career-high 49 minutes. McKenzie also put up a career high in minutes (41), scoring 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, while dishing out seven assists.

Kendrick Morse was one off his season high in points with 19 on 7-of-20 shooting. He buried three 3-point field goals. Moses Dayee also reached double figures in scoring with 12, all on his four 3-point field goals in the game.

Free-throws were a major difference maker for Missouri Southern, which buried 21-of-26 attempts compared to the Tigers hitting just 4-of-8. That allowed Missouri Southern, a team that shoots over 50 percent overall for the season, to overcome a poor shooting performance of 38.8 percent.

The loss for the Tigers now puts them in a tie for fifth place in the MIAA standings with Southwest Baptist at 10-8 with two games remaining. FHSU cannot finish any higher than fifth in the conference standings, as the three teams in front of FHSU all have five losses with two or less games remaining. If SBU and FHSU finish in a two-way tie, SBU will have the tiebreaker on FHSU for seeding at the MIAA Tournament by virtue of its two wins over FHSU.

Southwest Baptist hosts first-place Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday, while Fort Hays State hosts Pittsburg State. It will be the final conference game for Pitt State, which sits at 10-9, just a half game back of FHSU and SBU. An FHSU win over PSU would eliminate Pitt State's chances of still possibly grabbing the No. 5 seed at the conference tourney.