By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
JOPLIN, Mo. – Fort Hays State fought off an early offensive flurry by Missouri Southern to come from behind and win big at the Leggett and Platt Center on Thursday night (Jan. 11). Behind a career-high 31 points from Elijah Nnanabu, the Tigers ran away with an 85-67 win over the Lions. FHSU improved to 12-3 overall, 7-2 in the MIAA, while MSSU fell to 5-9 overall, 3-5 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State scored the first basket of the game on a Kaleb Hammeke 3-point field goal, but then saw Missouri Southern go on a 26-9 run on a scorching hot 10-of-11 shooting stretch from the field. The Lions were shooting 76.9 percent from the field when the Tigers dug their claws in defensively and mounted a furious comeback over the final 11 minutes of the first half after being down 14. They held MSSU to just 3-of-17 from the rest of the way until halftime and countered with a 26-8 run of their own to take a 38-34 lead into the break.
Hammeke and Nnanabu fueled the Tigers in a pair of bursts in the first half. Hammeke had 10 of FHSU’s first 12 points of the game, including the first eight. Later on with the Tigers already starting their big run, Nnanabu came alive when Hammeke found him for an easy bucket. That triggered a span where Nnanabu scored 10 of 12 FHSU points, broken up only by a fast-break lay in by Hammeke that tied the game at 28-28. After MSSU hit a 3-point field goal, Nnanabu scored the final four of his 10 in that burst to put the Tigers up 32-31. He would make one more basket to match Hammeke for high point honors at the half, each with 12 to help push the Tigers into the lead.
The Tigers kept the train rolling full-steam ahead in the second half, coming out on fire offensively. FHSU opened the second half a perfect 8-of-8 from the field and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line, all within a 23-8 run to push its lead all the way up to 19. During the Tiger run, Nnanabu had a stretch of 11 straight points and Hammeke capped it with the final five. Moments later, after FHSU’s first two field goal misses of the second half, Bjarni Jonsson pushed the lead over 20 for the first time with a 3-point field goal as the Tigers led by 22 with 12 and a half minutes to play. The closest the Lions got from that point was 14 with 9:15 to play, but the Tigers ran away once again with a 12-1 burst to reach a 25-point lead, their largest of the game, capped on a Jaheim Holden 3-point field goal.
Nnanabu had never reached 20 points in his career at FHSU with his previous career high being 19 reached four times. MSSU was the site of his last 19-point game in 2023 before he blew past that by 12 on Thursday night with 31 on a 12-of-18 performance from the field that included a 3-point field goal and a 6-of-6 effort at the free-throw line. He capped his tremendous performance with a dunk when he blew past his defender on the baseline late in the game. He gave the Tigers a 30-point scorer for their third-straight game in Joplin. Nnanabu added seven rebounds on his big offensive night.
Hammeke finished with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field with three 3-point field goals and a 3-of-3 effort at the free-throw line. It was the fifth-straight game of scoring at least 17 points for Hammeke and it was his third straight game of scoring at least 20 inside the Leggett and Platt Center. He had 32 (2021) and 35 (2023) in his previous two games at the arena. Hammeke had a team-high eight assists on the night.
In his first start of the season Shaun Riley nearly finished with a double-double, scoring eight points to go with a team-high 10 rebounds. Jonsson finished with seven points. The Tiger bench provided a big spark both offensively and defensively. Holden also had eight points, going 2-of-3 beyond the 3-point line. Conner Landell had an impactful night with a new career-high four blocked shots in the game to go with five points. Caleb Grill had four points, hitting both of his field goal attempts.
Sam Thompson was the high-point man for MSSU with 12, followed by Darius Dawson and Cam Williams each with 11. All eight Lions that played in the game scored.
The Tigers finished at 55.9 percent shooting from the field overall (33-of-59), which included a 7-of-16 effort beyond the 3-point line. FHSU was a perfect 12-of-12 at the free-throw line. They ended up holding the Lions to 44.8 percent overall from the field after their hot start to the game.
The Tigers held the Lions inside 70 points in Joplin for the first time since the 2015-16 season, but have gone 4-2 in that stretch thanks to scoring at least 80 in five of the six games. The 85-point effort by the Tigers was their highest scoring output of the season so far.
The victory extended Fort Hays State’s win streak to four games, which they will take to a meeting with Pittsburg State (8-5, 4-3 MIAA) on Saturday (Jan. 13) in Pittsburg. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m., which follows the women’s game. The Tigers are now just a half game back of first place in the MIAA standings, currently held by Northwest Missouri State at 7-1.