KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A pair of free throws by Hadley Gillum with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime pushed Fort Hays State past Missouri Southern 86-85 in a thrilling overtime battle at Municipal Auditorium in the MIAA Tournament Quarterfinals. The No. 7 seeded Tigers knocked out the No. 2 seeded Lions and will now play No. 3 seed Washburn on Saturday (Mar. 3) in the semifinals. The Tigers are now 19-11, while the Lions went to 20-9 overall.
 
It was an intense battle throughout as neither team led by more than four points in the first half. Missouri Southern held a 34-30 lead at halftime after CJ Carr hit a jumper as time expired.
 
In the second half, Missouri Southern pushed its lead out to eight twice before FHSU stormed back to lead by one with an 11-2 run between the 15:14 and 13:08 marks. From that point, the advantage went back and forth. By the end of the night, the game saw 28 lead changes and 21 ties.
 
Marcus Cooper helped spark a 6-0 burst by the Tigers, scoring the first four points in the run between 4:33 and 2:49 remaining in regulation. Brady Werth capped the run with a layup, pushing the Tigers in front 70-69. The lead changed hands six more times and FHSU had a one-point lead with 37 seconds remaining. With eight seconds remaining on the clock, Kinzer Lambert of MSSU went to the free-throw line and was only able to convert one of two attempts. Kyler Kinnamon drove to the basket late, but the shot was blocked away with a second remaining. Gillum tried a desperation three-point attempt off the inbounds, but it was off the mark and the game went to overtime.
 
The seesaw battled continued in overtime with Missouri Southern eventually taking an 85-84 lead on a pair of free throws by Carr with 47 seconds remaining. An Aaron Nicholson 3-point attempt from the right corner with 28 seconds remaining rattled in and out and luckily the ball went out of bounds off a Lion. Eventually, with time nearly expired, Marcus Cooper went to the basket, missed a layup, but Hadley Gillum cleaned up the miss and was fouled as he started to go back up with a second-chance attempt. Gillum went to the line, calmly dropped one toss, and Missouri Southern called timeout. Out of the break Gillum toed the line again, hit his second attempt, and then Cooper stole a long inbounds pass that went the length of the floor to end the game. The Tigers survived the epic battle, 86-85.
 
Gillum had a team-best 26 points and nearly produced a double-double by finishing with nine rebounds. Cooper scored all 23 of his points after halftime. Brady Werth added 16 points. The Tigers as a team shot 45.1 percent from the field. Most importantly, they shot 15-of-17 at the free-throw line (88.2 percent).
 
Getting as many free throws to drop was crucial for the Tigers, as they finished with six more field goals made in the game than the Lions (including three more 3-pointers). The Lions went to the line 39 times in the game and hit 29, holding a 14-point advantage over the Tigers at the line. That helped the Lions overcome shooting just 40 percent from the field and 17.4 percent beyond the 3-point line. Also, the Tigers were able to overtime a disparity of 20 rebounds as the Lions pulled down 52 compared to 32 for the Tigers.
 
Carr finished with a game-high 28 points for the Lions, while Lambert added 17 points. Elyjah Clark had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Enis Memic nearly was just shy of the same feat with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Fort Hays State has now played five overtime games this season. After falling in the first three, the Tigers have taken the last two (double overtime win at Northeastern State and Missouri Southern in the MIAA Quarterfinals).
 
Fort Hays State will try to extend its season further when it faces Washburn in the semifinals of the tournament on Saturday at 6 pm.