Box Score Fort Hays State fought off a hard charging Northwest Missouri State team in the last two minutes with a 64-60 win in Maryville, Mo. The win keeps FHSU in a tie for first place in the MIAA with Central Missouri. FHSU moved to 16-6 overall and 10-4 in the MIAA with the win. Northwest Missouri State dropped to 15-8 overall, 8-6 in the MIAA.

Fort Hays State looked to be in control of the game with a 14-point halftime lead. However, the Bearcats rallied on their home floor to chip away at the lead all through the second half to finally take a two-point lead with 2:15 remaining in the game.

Craig Nicholson immediately put the Tigers back up by one with a 3-point field goal on the next Tiger possession. NWMSU briefly took the lead back by one before Nicholson pushed the Tigers back in front by one on a layup with 1:14 remaining.

Fort Hays State would use solid free-throw shooting down the stretch to pull out the win. After DeAngelo Hailey tied the game with one free-throw, his second missed and Lance Russell was fouled on the rebound. Russell went down a buried a pair of free-throws in the 1-and-1 situation.

The Tigers got the defensive stop they needed on the next possession and Carson Konrade went to the free-throw line, burying another pair in a 1-and-1 situation to put FHSU up by four. Hailey hit a jumper for Northwest Missouri with 15 seconds remaining to bring the FHSU lead back to two, but then Ben Congiusta buried a pair of free-throws in the final 1-and-1 situation for FHSU to put the lead back at four.

Northwest Missouri's Connor Crooker hit a shot and was fouled with just over a second remaining, but his miss on the free-throw attempt allowed Lance Russell to put the game on ice with another pair of free-throws. FHSU finished was 8-of-8 at the free-throw line in the final minute.

Russell finished with a team-high 22 points for FHSU, just one shy of his season high for the second time this year. He was 7-of-14 from the field with three 3-point field goals and went 5-of-6 at the free-throw line. Craig NIcholson was also one off his game high for the season with 21 points, going 8-of-15 from the field with three 3-point field goals and 2-of-2 at the free-throw line. Dwayne Brunson scored all 10 of his points in the first half. Russell and Nicholson combined for 23 of Fort Hays State's 29 points in the second half.

Fort Hays State finished at 92.9 percent (13-of-14) from the free-throw line for the game. The Tigers shot 44 percent from the field overall, which included 41.2 percent beyond the 3-point line, after going 52 percent overall from the field in the first half. After holding NWMSU to just 30 percent shooting in the first half, the Bearcats warmed to 48.1 percent in the second half to finish 40.4 percent from the field for the game.

With the win, the Tigers also mathematically clinched a spot in the MIAA Tournament, still with four games remaining in the season.

Fort Hays State looks to stay in first place when it travels to Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 pm at the Health and Sports Center in Kearney.