Tigers drop two on road to start season

By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION

MARSHALL, Minn. – Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball took its second loss in as many days, falling to Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday (Nov. 9). The Golden Bears had a balanced scoring effort from their starting five, winning by a score of 82-68 over the No. 16 ranked Tigers. CSP started its season 2-0, while FHSU moved to 0-2.

Fort Hays State held a 26-22 lead at the 8:49 mark of the first half before Concordia-St. Paul went on a 13-0 run to take a 35-26 advantage. FHSU closed back within one point shortly before halftime, but a 3-point field goal by CSP pushed the lead out to 44-40 at the break.

The Tigers chipped away early in the second half and got the lead down to one twice before momentarily taking a two-point lead (59-57) on a Kyle Grill 3-point field goal at the 11:18 mark. However, CSP pulled back even and then used a 15-4 run to hold an 11-point lead with a little over four minutes to play. The Tigers cut the lead inside 10 only one time after the run.

Shaun Riley led the Tigers with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Kaleb Hammeke (12) and Traejon Davis (11) also reached double figures in scoring for the Tigers. Kyle Grill handed out a team-high five assists.

Marcus Skeete and Antwan Kimmons led the Golden Bears with 17 points each. Ben Kopetzki had 13 points, Ian Sluice had 12, and Cade Meyer added 11 points. Skeete and Kimmons nearly had double-doubles as both had nine rebounds. Kopetzki led CSP with four assists.

Fort Hays State will have a whole week off before returning to action on Tuesday (Nov. 19) when it hosts its first home game of the season against South Dakota Mines at 7 p.m.

Friday

MARSHALL, Minn. – In a matchup of teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year, Southwest Minnesota State prevailed on its home floor against No. 16 ranked Fort Hays State by a score of 68-62. The Tigers had a 31-28 lead at halftime, but saw the Mustangs slip by in the second half for the six-point win. It was the first game of the season for both teams.

Fort Hays State led for the majority of the first half. Their largest lead was eight points at the 3:24 mark of the first half when Kaleb Hammeke hit a 3-point field goal to make the score 29-21. But, the Mustangs closed the gap to just three by halftime. FHSU held the Mustangs to just 34.6 percent shooting from the field in the opening half.

The Tigers made the first basket of the second half, but saw the Mustangs go on an 8-0 run to sneak past and lead 36-33. The Tigers would never get the lead back from that point as the Mustangs found a way to hold them off the rest of the way. The largest SMSU lead was 12 points with just under three minutes to play, but the Tigers brought the lead back down to five twice inside the final minute.

The free-throw line was a big difference in the game for the Mustangs, where they outscored the Tigers by 14. SMSU shot 28 free throws and made 22, while FHSU shot just 10 free throws and made eight. The Tigers made 10 3-point field goals compared to six for the Mustangs, and made two more field goals overall than the Mustangs. However, it was not enough to offset the free-throw line disparity. FHSU managed to hold the Mustangs to just 37.7 percent overall from the field.

Kyle Grill led the Tigers with 15 points. He hit three 3-point field goals and went 4-of-4 at the free-throw line. Kaleb Hammeke was right behind with 14 points, also hitting three 3-point field goals and his only free-throw attempt of the game. Traejon Davis also reached double figures with 12 points. Grill, Shaun Riley, and R.J. Crawford all had five rebounds to lead the Tigers. Grill and Hammeke each had three assists.

Aeron Stevens led the Mustangs in scoring with 29 points. He was 14-of-15 from the free-throw line and pulled down eight rebounds. Dunwa Omot was the only other Mustang in double figures with 10 points. Jakob Braaten led SMSU with nine rebounds and five assists.

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