By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
MARYVILLE, Mo. – Fort Hays State held the lead a few times in the second half, but No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri State pulled away late on its home floor on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 11). The Bearcats won 64-49, remaining unbeaten on the season at 10-0 overall and 4-0 in the MIAA, while the Tigers had their seven-game win streak snapped, moving to 7-2 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State took the lead four times in the second half after trailing by just four points at halftime. After tying the game three times in the first half, the Tigers took their first lead at 36-35 when Kaleb Hammeke dropped in a 3-point field goal with 14:41 remaining in the game. Hammeke pushed the Tigers in front by one three more times as the lead went back and forth all the way to the 8:23 mark.
Diego Bernard hit a tough 3-point shot in the left corner to put the Bearcats back in front for good with 7:50 to play. Bernard’s shot triggered a 9-0 run for the Bearcats, which had them up eight with six minutes to go. The Tigers got the lead trimmed back to five and had a couple of looks to try to get back within two. However, they could not make another surge after a 3-point play by Byron Alexander with 3:24 to play that put the Bearcats back up by eight.
Northwest Missouri State finished with a 12-point advantage at the free-throw line, hitting 19-of-24 attempts. FHSU shot just 10 attempts and made seven. Otherwise, NWMSU had just one more 3-point field goal than FHSU and both teams buried 15 shots inside the arc.
Hammeke finished with a team-high 19 points and three assists for the Tigers, while Bjarni Jonsson also reached double figures with 10. Traejon Davis led the Tigers in rebounding with seven, while adding eight points.
Bernard led all scorers, finishing with 23 for the Bearcats. He was 7-of-9 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. Luke Waters was the only other NWMSU player in double figures with 15 points. Wes Dreamer had a team-high eight rebounds for the Bearcats.
Fort Hays State will play another current top-10 ranked team to open its weekend home stand in Hays this coming week with Central Oklahoma on Friday (Dec. 16) at 7:30 p.m. The Bronchos were undefeated going into this week, but took their first loss on Thursday night (Dec. 8) to Missouri Southern. UCO will enter the game at 8-1 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA.