By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
EMPORIA, Kan. – Fort Hays State improved to 2-0 on the season with a 66-52 win over Arkansas Tech on Saturday evening (Nov. 11) at White Auditorium. The Tigers went into halftime with a seven-point lead and then controlled the entire second half, leading by as many as 18 points four times.
After playing to a 21-21 tie through the first 15 and a half minutes of the game, the Tigers used an 11-4 run to end the first half. A Bjarni Jonsson 3-point field goal gave their Tigers their largest lead of the opening half, eight points, with 27 seconds remaining before halftime. Arkansas Tech made a free throw just before the end of the half to get back within seven.
For the second-straight game, the Tigers went to work right out of halftime as Kaleb Hammeke hit a three and a two in the first minute to instantly put the Tigers up 12. They would lead by double figures the rest of the way. Another little 4-0 burst extended the lead to 15, then an R.J. Crawford 3-pointer and a Shaun Riley free throw pushed the lead up to 17 just over four minutes into the half. Another Jonsson 3-point field goal pushed the Tiger lead to its pinnacle just over six minutes into the half. Arkansas Tech did not get closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
Hammeke led the Tigers with 24 points and three assists. He had 12 points in each half, shooting 8-of-13 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free-throw line. Elijah Nnanabu and Crawford each finished with 10 points, while Crawford led the Tigers in rebounds with six. Nnanabu recorded a team-high three steals.
Seybian Sims was the high-point man for ATU with 13. Josh Mitchell also reached double figures with 10 and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds for the Wonder Boys.
FHSU outshot ATU 46.5 percent to 32.7 percent from the field. The Tigers were 74.1 percent at the free-throw line, hitting 20 charity tosses. They made 11 more free throws than ATU.
Fort Hays State goes back on the road next weekend to MSU Denver on Sunday (Nov. 19) before playing its first home game on November 21.
Friday
Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball opened its 2023-24 season with a 70-66 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State in the MIAA-GAC Challenge. After falling down by double digits early in the game, the Tigers used a big second-half surge to get past the Bulldogs.
Southwestern Oklahoma built a 13-point lead twice early, the latest at 20-7 with 11:54 to go before halftime. From that point, FHSU closed out the first half on a 21-11 run to get back within three at halftime. SWOSU led 31-28 at the break.
The Tigers came out of halftime with purpose, going on a 10-0 run to flip the game into a seven-point lead, 38-31. The Tigers went on to lead the remainder of the game, even though SWOSU made it interesting late. A steal and a layup with under 20 seconds remaining brought the Bulldogs back within two, but Elijah Nnanabu put the game away by hitting a pair of crucial free throws with 14 seconds remaining. That would be the final scoring of the game as a SWOSU 3-point field goal on their next possession fell off the mark.
Tiger newcomers Shaun Riley and R.J. Crawford led the Tigers with 15 points each, while Nnanabu finished with 14. Riley picked up a double-double in his first game as a Tiger, adding a team-high 10 rebounds. Kaleb Hammeke also reached double figures in scoring with 12 points.
After shooting just 39.3 percent from the field in the first half, the Tigers heated to 50 percent in the second half and finished at 45 percent for the game. SWOSU finished at 44.6 percent from the field. Both teams scored 58 points on field goals, but FHSU made four more free throws in the game (12-8) to triumph.