By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State improved to 10-3 overall and 5-2 in the MIAA with a 61-51 win over Central Missouri on Thursday night (Jan. 4) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers ran their win streak to six-straight games over the Mules, along with a sixth-straight win over the Mules inside the coliseum. UCM moved to 5-6 overall on the season and remains in search of its first MIAA win now at 0-5 in conference action.
Central Missouri held a lead for only 29 seconds of the game with 4-2 and 6-4 leads early. The Tigers used a 9-0 burst to get past the Mules from the 14:10 to 10:13 marks of the first half to build a 7-point lead. The Tigers would lead the remainder of the game to stay within one game of Northwest Missouri State in the MIAA standings. FHSU led by as many as 11 in the first half before going into halftime with a 28-21 lead.
Central Missouri used an 11-5 run to open the second half to get within one point of the Tigers with 15:44 to play. However, FHSU responded with a 10-0 run to stretch its lead back to 11 with just under 13 minutes to play. Elijah Nnanabu had five of the team’s points in the burst, bookending the run with a 2-point jumper and 3-point jumper. A six-point margin with 10:06 to play was the closest the Mules got the rest of the way. FHSU reached its largest lead of 13 points twice before UCM buried a late 3-pointer to make the final margin 10.
Kaleb Hammeke led the Tigers with 17 points, while pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out three assists. Shaun Riley was one point behind Hammeke with a strong 16 off the bench, going 8-of-14 from the field, while leading the team in rebounds with eight. Nnanabu also reached double figures in scoring with 13. Jaheim Holden notched a team-high five assists.
The Mules got 43 of their 51 points from three players, led by Caleb Nero with 18. Tim Jordan Jr. provided 13 and Jalen Knott added 12. Jordan Hayes had seven assists for UCM.
FHSU shot 43.9 percent as a team and held UCM to just 30.2 percent overall. UCM made only four 2-point field goals in the game, getting 27 of its points off nine 3-point field goals. FHSU made 12 more field goals than UCM, though UCM made five more 3-point field goals and outscored FHSU by 11 at the free-throw line.
Fort Hays State improved its NCAA Division II leading scoring defense to 56.6 points per game allowed, holding the opposition to 60 or less for the ninth time this season out of 13 games.
The Tigers look to keep their momentum rolling into Saturday’s home contest against Lincoln University. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at Gross Memorial Coliseum, which follows the women’s contest.