By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State picked swept its two-game road swing to Missouri in conference play with a 66-53 win at Lincoln on Monday (Jan. 2). The Tigers scored the first basket of the game and led the rest of the way, leading by 15 at the half before the final margin settled at 13. FHSU is now 10-3 overall, 5-2 in the MIAA, while Lincoln moved to 7-3 overall, 3-3 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State opened the game with a 9-2 run, started on a 3-point field goal by Bjarni Jonsson. FHSU finished the run with seven straight points with baskets from Gilbert Peters, Kaleb Hammeke, and another from Jonsson. The FHSU lead reached double figures for the first time at 21-11 with 7:44 remaining before halftime on a jumper by Elijah Nnanabu. The Tigers eventually led by 17 on a pair of Geoff Hamperian free throws before Lincoln made the final bucket of the opening half. FHSU led 38-23 at the break.
The FHSU lead reached 18 four times in the second half. Lincoln tried to make a few bursts late in the second half, getting the lead down to 11 four times. However, FHSU kept its double-digit lead all throughout the second half to move to 2-2 in true road contests this season.
Hammeke led the Tigers with 18 points, making seven field goals and three free throws. Jonsson had 12 of his 14 points in the first half and made both of his 3-point field goal attempts in the game. Traejon Davis led the Tigers in rebounds with five, while Nnanabu led in assists with four.
Artese Stapleton led Lincoln with 15 points, followed by Kevin Kone with 14 and Sai Witt with 11. Witt and Kone each had eight rebounds, while Stapleton pulled down seven for the Blue Tigers.
FHSU limited Lincoln to just 37.2 percent shooting from the field, including just a 2-of-14 effort (14.3 percent) beyond the 3-point line. FHSU forced Lincoln into 20 turnovers, while committing just six.
Fort Hays State returns home at the latter portion of this week for a pair of MIAA games, starting with Missouri Southern on Thursday (Jan. 5) at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Fort Hays State moved to 9-3 overall and 4-2 in the MIAA with a 57-46 win at Central Missouri on Saturday (Dec. 31). The Tigers led by two at halftime and created space with a 10-0 run to open the second half before winning by 11.
Central Missouri held the early advantage, but never led by more than four prior to FHSU taking its first lead at 14-13 on a Bjarni Jonsson 3-point field goal from the left corner. FHSU also led by four at 19-15 before few more lead changes the remainder of the first half. A driving layup by Jaheim Holden gave the Tigers a two-point advantage, 27-25, at the break.
The Tigers opened up their advantage with staunch defense to open the second half, holding the Mules scoreless over the first 6:42 of action. Kaleb Hammeke and Elijah Nnanabu did all of the damage for FHSU in their 10-0 run to open the second frame, Hammeke with a pair of threes and Nnanabu with a pair of twos.
After FHSU was starting to cruise up 14 with 11:47 to play, the UCM offense came to life with an 8-0 run to get the lead back down to six with 10:16 to play. However, Nnanabu buried a 3-point field goal to snap the run and FHSU pushed its lead back to double figures with 7:38 to play on a Jonsson jumper. UCM brought the lead back inside 10 only one time at nine points with 3:47 to play before FHSU regained its double-figure lead to close out the contest.
Hammeke led the Tigers with 16 points with three of his four field goals in the game beyond the 3-point line. Holden finished with 12 points after leading the team with nine at the half. He hit two 3-point field goals and was 5-of-6 from the field, while dishing out a team-high four assists. Gabe Pieschl led the Tigers in rebounds with 12, helping the team win the battle on the glass by five. The Tigers surrendered just two second-chance points in the game.
FHSU was very efficient from the field in the second-half, going 11-of-18 (61.1 percent). FHSU shot 45.8 percent overall for the game. The Tigers held the Mules to just 34.6 percent from the field. The 46 points were the lowest allowed to an MIAA opponent so far this year by the Tigers.
Mikel Henderson led UCM, now 6-6 overall and 2-4 in the MIAA, with 18 points and four assists. Gaven Pinkley also reached double figures in scoring for the Mules with 11. Garrett Luinstra pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.