Missouri Western guard Marcus Rhodes

Missouri Western Upsets Fort Hays State, 75-69

By David Boyce

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- A key moment in Missouri Western's 75-69 upset victory Monday night over No. 3-ranked Fort Hays State occurred with 11 minutes left, and it only tied the game.

Justin Taylor scored on a nifty, over-the-back layup for Missouri Western that knotted the game at 43-43.

The highlight reel basket brought a loud ovation from the 1,631 fans at MWSU Fieldhouse and caused Fort Hays to call timeout.

But more importantly, Taylor scored off a great assist from Marcus Rhodes. It signaled that the Griffons were working as a unit.

"I saw Justin getting his feet ready and I'm thinking what is he doing," said Rhodes, who finished with 13 points. "If I throw it I know he's going to get it wherever the ball is at. I threw it and he went up and got it and scored.

"Plays like that always give us more fire. I feel like every time we get a big play like that it makes us want to win more."

The play was early in the Griffons' 21-6 run that turned a 43-36 deficit into a 57-49 lead.

It was enough of a cushion for Missouri Western to up its record to 14-7 overall and 9-5 in the MIAA.

"To beat a ranked team and an overall good team like Fort Hays means a lot to us," said James Bush, who scored 14 points and was one of five Griffons in double figures. "I'm taking it in and enjoying every minute of it."

Fort Hays lost its second straight game and fell to 17-3 and 11-2.

"I don't know if they had false pretenses about themselves, but we are not good enough to go out there and not defend people," Fort Hays coach Mark Johnson said. "We got to play smarter and tougher then we have this weekend.

"Missouri Western is a tough place to play. We knew it. We knew it would be a hard game."

Missouri Western showed plenty of grit. The Griffons saw Fort Hays take an 11-10 lead in the first half and build it to 27-20 before going into halftime ahead 29-26.

Fort Hays maintained its lead the first nine minutes in the second half, including a 43-36 advantage with 13:48 left. But that's when the momentum began to change on a layup by Quentin Noblin.

A couple of minutes later the Griffons tied it on the play by Taylor from Rhodes.

A 30-second timeout by Fort Hays still couldn't slow the roll the Griffons were on. Missouri Western took a 45-43 lead on a layup by Dominique Thuston.

The good times kept rolling for Missouri Western. The Griffons extended their lead to 57-49 on a jumper by Mike DeWalt with 7:09 left.

"Being together," Bush said of the run. "Coach preaches it every day. If somebody makes a mistake don't yell at them, don't get on them, just fight through it and tell them it's OK and work through it."

Missouri Western even built a double-digit advantage when Noblin hit a trey with 4:36 left, making it 64-54.

Fort Hays made a valiant run in the final four minutes thanks to a couple of three-pointers by Willie Hassell that helped the Tigers close to 68-64 with 3:17 left.

But down the stretch the Griffons hit their free throws and prevented Fort Hays from retaking the lead. It started with Taylor, who dropped in two free throws with 2:38 left to make it 70-64.

In the final three minutes, Missouri Western was 7-for-8 from the line.

"We basically made free throws," Rhodes said. "We knew they were going to foul.

"We all wanted the game bad. We knew it was going to come down to free throws and we knocked them down."

To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail dboyce@themiaa.com.