By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
TOPEKA , Kan. – Fort Hays State fell on the road Wednesday night (Jan. 18) at Washburn. The Tigers went scoreless over the first five minutes of the game and trailed 10-0, eventually falling by 10, 74-64. FHSU is now 12-6 overall, 7-5 in the MIAA, while Washburn moved to 7-9 overall and 4-6 in the MIAA.
Washburn hit six of its first eight shots from the field, including three 3-point field goals, to get out of the gate hot while FHSU was struggling. The Tigers missed their first five shots from the field before Traejon Davis put in the first Tiger bucket at the 14:45 mark. The Tigers cut the Ichabod lead down to six twice, but the Ichabods closed the first half with a 7-0 run to get their lead to 13 by halftime at 37-24.
The Tigers were able to make a significant dent in the Ichabod lead early in the second half by going on a 14-6 run out of the break. They cut the lead to five one more time on an Elijah Nnanabu jumper, making the score 45-40, before Washburn went on a quick 9-0 run over about two minutes of time to take its largest lead of 14 points. The Ichabod lead reached 14 five times in the second half before the final margin settled at 10.
The teams nearly shot identical marks from the field, FHSU going 24-of-53 (45.3 percent) and Washburn going 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) from the field. The Ichabods shot a strong 55.6 percent from the field in the first half, but were held to just 36 percent in the second half. The Tigers were the reverse, struggling to 32 percent in the first half before a strong 57.1 percent in the second half. Free throws proved to be the difference in the game as Washburn shot 28 and made 20, while FHSU shot just 13 and made 11. Washburn held a 9-point advantage at the free-throw line and made one more 3-point field goal than FHSU to account for the final margin of 10.
Nnanabu led the Tiger scoring effort with 16 points. Bjarni Jonsson was a perfect 3-of-3 beyond the 3-point arc, finishing with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. Kaleb Hammeke also scored in double figures with 10 and dished out a team-high six assists.
Levi Braun led Washburn with 20 points, hitting four of the team’s six 3-point field goals in the game. Tyler Nelson had 16 points, while Brady Christiansen and Jarmell Johnson each had 11. Michael Keegan led the Ichabods with seven rebounds, while Nelson had a team-high four assists.
Fort Hays State will face No. 24 ranked Emporia State in Emporia on Sunday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at White Auditorium.