Dominique Jones calmly sank free throws with 9.3 seconds left, and T.J. Johnson’s three-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the iron no good as No. 2 seed Fort Hays State won a thriller over No. 7 seed Missouri Western, 86-85, Thursday evening at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, MO.
Tom Smith’s comments after his team’s loss (1:00)
After a slow start in the first half that saw Fort Hays State (23-6) fall behind 21-8, Jones and the Tigers got going to cut the lead to four at halftime, 44-40. In the second half, there were seven ties and seven lead changes, with neither team leading by more than six points at any point in the half.
With Missouri Western leading 85-82 with 1:00 remaining in the game, Jones hit a driving layup to cut the Western lead to 85-84. MWSU’s Adrian Thomas, who finished the game with 18 points (5-of-7 shooting from three-point range) missed a three on the other end. On the ensuing possession, Jones missed a layup in traffic, but the ball went out of bounds back to FHSU with 11 seconds remaining on the clock.
The ball was inbounded by Jones and immediately given back to him, and Thomas was whistled for a foul on Jones with 9.3 seconds left. Jones hit the two free throws, Johnson missed the three on the other end, and Fort Hays State’s Ben Congiusta came away with the rebound to run out the final seconds on Hays’ victory.
Story courtesy of theMIAA.com.