WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Fort Hays State battled to for a 61-54 win at Central Missouri on Saturday (Feb. 19) to sweep the regular season series and move to 21-4 overall and 16-4 in the MIAA. The Tigers moved to within a game of the MIAA lead, held by Central Oklahoma (17-3 MIAA), with the win after Northwest Missouri State (16-3 MIAA) fell at home to Washburn.
 
The Tigers struggled a bit offensively in the early going and fell down by eight at 16-8 just over eight minutes into the contest. The Tigers went on a 6-0 burst to get the Mule lead back to two and then moments later used an 11-0 run to turn a six-point deficit into a five-point lead at 25-20. FHSU held onto the lead the remainder of the first half and took a 32-29 lead into the locker room.
 
Jared Vitztum and Nyjee Wright led the Tigers with seven points each at the break. When Vitztum hit the first of two free throws with 2:39 remaining in the half, he reached the 1,500-point mark for his career at FHSU. He became the fifth player in program history to reach that milestone.
 
Fort Hays State opened the second half on an 8-2 run, capped by a Wright 3-point field goal to take a nine-point lead with 15:35 to go. UCM trimmed the lead back to five, but then a 6-0 burst gave the Tigers an 11-point advantage with 12 minutes remaining when Traejon Davis tipped a ball in on an offensive rebound. The Mules eventually trimmed the lead down to four with just over a minute to play, but Elijah Nnanabu made a key driving layup with 40 seconds remaining to get the lead back to six. The Tigers kept the Mules scoreless the rest of the way.
 
Vitztum and Wright tied for a team-high 12 points for the Tigers, while Kaleb Hammeke added 11. Nnanabu was the top scorer off the bench with eight. Vitztum finished with his 13^th double-double of the season by pulling down 11 rebounds. He is now just seven rebounds shy of 900 in his career. Hammeke led the Tigers in assists with five.
 
Koray Gilbert led UCM with 15 points, followed by Cameron Hunter with 14. Hunter had five assists for the Mules.
 
The Tigers will enter the final week of regular season play much alive in the fight for the MIAA regular season title. They are just one game back of Central Oklahoma and a half-game back of Northwest Missouri State, which plays Emporia State on Monday night. Fort Hays State hosts Missouri Western for Senior Night on Wednesday in Hays at 7:30 pm, which follows the women's contest at 5:30 pm.