By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
WICHITA FALLS, Tex. —The Fort Hays State University men's basketball team's top three scorers, juniors Dominique Jones, Corbin Kuntzsch and Ken Bowman, all scored below their season average. Jones eventually fouled out, Kuntzsch didn't score all first half and Bowman was saddled with foul trouble all game.
The Tigers' supporting cast, led by senior guards Willie Hassell (21) and Orrin Greer (17) and junior forward Dijon Smith (20), led Fort Hays to an 80-64 victory in a physical over University of Central Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Division II tournament on the campus of Midwestern State (Tex.) University.
Greer set a new-career high with 16 points, while Smith tied his career high with 20 points and Hassell collected a career-high 19 points. In addition, four players fouled out, including three by Central Oklahoma, in a game that yielded 48 fouls.
The Tigers, the South Central Regional's No. 3 seed, moved to 23-6 overall and won the second NCAA Tournament game in the nine-year Mark Johnson era, first since 2005-06. Central Oklahoma, the regional's sixth-ranked team, finished at 22-7.
Fort Hays will play the winner of No. 2 University of Central Missouri/No. 7 Missouri Western State University at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. See Sunday's HDN for more on this story.