KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No. 7 Central Missouri Mules (15-15, 9-10 MIAA) fell to No. 2 Fort Hays State Tigers (20-9, 12-7 MIAA) by a final score of 67-61 Thursday, March 6, in the 2025 MIAA Men's Basketball Championship quarterfinals presented by Southern Bank inside historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
No. 2 Fort Hays State began the game on an 11-0 run in the opening three minutes of play before Kansas City, Mo. native
Elijah Farr (12 points and team-best seven boards overall) converted an and one opportunity as the Tigers led by 22 at the break.
Sparked by a 20-4 run by the Mules in the opening seven minutes of play, a triple from
DeAirius Barker (team-high 16 points and four rebounds overall) off a
KJ Lee (seven points, six boards, and two assists overall) assist made it a nine-point FHSU lead with 10:15 left in regulation.
Farr cut the deficit to six with just under eight minutes to play converting a contested layup and the ensuing free-throw before a bucket from
Josh Nwankwo (15 points, five rebounds, and two steals overall) made it a 52-47 FHSU lead with 5:37 to play.
Central Missouri cut the lead to three with a pair of free-throws from
Jake Fritz (nine points and two rebounds) but trailed by six with 1:01 to play as the Tigers never relinquished advancing to the semifinals led by Kaleb Hammeke's game-high 22 points and six assists.
Central Missouri outscored the Tigers in second chance points by a margin of 8-7 as
Tim Jordan Jr. contributed two points on the afternoon.
