By MATT PIKE
The Missouri Western State University men and women’s basketball teams fell on the road Saturday in Hays, Kansas against Fort Hays state to wrap up a short road trip before returning to St. Joseph on Wednesday.
The MoWest men dropped a tightly contested matchup, falling to the Tigers 67–65 at Gross Memorial Coliseum to open the afternoon as the MIAA Game of the Week. The loss dropped the Griffons to 11-3 on the season, 3-1 in the MIAA, and improved Fort Hays to 10-3, 2-2 MIAA.
A defensive, low scoring opening half saw Hays build a 13-6 advantage at the 12:10 mark. But, MoWest answered with a strong finish and took a lead heading into the halftime break, going ahead of the Tigers by one 28-27 as Marko Pavlovic scored in the paint in the final 30 seconds to give the Griffons the lead.
MoWest carried that momentum into the second half, opening on an extended run to build their largest lead of the game at 14 points. Pavlovic scored repeatedly in the paint. Noah King pushed the pace and attacked the rim in transition, and Pavlovic capped the surge at the free-throw line to give MoWest a 45–31 advantage with just under 14 minutes remaining.
The Tigers stormed back, answering with steady pressure, Hays grabbing their first lead since the end of the first half, going ahead 56–55, with 4:39 remaining. Six lead changes happened over the final minutes, Gavin Hershberger hitting a go ahead three with 3:54 remaining that put the Griffons in front 60–59. Hershberger later came up big at the free throw line, giving the Griffons a 65–63 advantage with just over a minute remaining.
After Fort Hays State tied the game at 65–65 from the free-throw line with 56 seconds remaining though, the Tigers secured a defensive rebound with 30 seconds left, giving Hays an opportunity to take the lead. Lucas Hammeke finished a layup at the basket with four seconds on the clock to put the Tigers ahead 67–65. MoWest’s final three-point attempt at the buzzer was blocked, sealing the narrow road loss.
Pavlovic led the way with a double-double, tallying 16 points and 10 rebounds. Hershberger followed with 15 points. King chipped in 11 points to round out the double digit scoring. The Griffons finished the game shooting 42.3% from the field and 27.8% from three-point range. MoWest shot 66.7% at the free-throw line.
The MoWest women were outscored by #6 Fort Hays State 31-13 in the third quarter, leading to a 87-56 defeat at the hand of the Tigers at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
MoWest, which hadn’t lost in Hays since February 2022, hung in early, trailing 36-31 at halftime after holding the Tigers to eight second quarter points. The third quarter though got off to a bad start quickly, as Hays opened the second half on a 17-2 run to lead 53-35 with 4:30 remaining in the third.
The Griffons were held scoreless for the first 5:23 of the fourth quarter, allowing the Tigers lead to balloon to as much as 35 points. MoWest shot just 24.1% in the second half, and were just just 1-of-10 from three.
With the loss The Griffons are now 4-9, starting 0-4 in the MIAA play for the first time since 2013-14. Hays improved to 12-1, 3-1 MIAA. Mia Morel led MoWest with 13 points. LaNicia Parker came off the bench for 11 points. Ana Oliveira Dias scored 10 to round out the double digit scoring, while Nakiya Harris had a game-high 16 rebounds.
Next, The Griffon men and women return home to open a four-game homestand, starting with Washburn (10-3, 3-1 MIAA) on Wednesday. Tip-off from MWSU Fieldhouse is set for 5:30 p.m for the women. The men tipoff against #1 Washburn at 7:30 p.m.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.
