By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State moved to 6-3 overall on the season with an 84-58 win over Bethel College on Monday evening (Dec. 16) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers led by nine at halftime and then pulled away in the second half to win their 18th-straight game over the Threshers.
The Tigers received a challenge from the Threshers in the first 10 minutes of the game. Bethel led by one, 15-14, at the second media break of the opening half, but the Tigers went on an 18-5 run over a nearly six-minute span to take a 12-point lead. The lead reached 13 a pair of times before the margin came back to nine at halftime.
Bethel hit the opening shot of the second half, a 3-point field goal to get the lead back down to six. But, that was the closest the Threshers would get as the Tigers went on a 16-2 run immediately after to stretch the lead to 20. The lead would eventually stay over 20 points from the 6:26 mark to the end of the game. FHSU reached its largest lead of 27 points with 45 seconds remaining before Bethel hit a free throw to make the final margin 26.
Fort Hays State shot 51.9 percent overall as a team and 50 percent (12-of-24) beyond the 3-point line. FHSU was 18-of-23 at the free-throw line (78.3 percent). The Tigers held Bethel to 34.5 percent shooting overall.
Kaleb Hammeke led FHSU with 15 points, while Dan Mukuna had a near-perfect shooting evening with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Mukuna was 3-of-4 from the field, including 2-of-2 beyond the 3-point line, and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line. Muhamed Kante dished out a team-high five assists. Kyle Grill (12) and Shaun Riley (11) also reached double figures in scoring, while Aidan McDowell had nine points all on 3-point field goals. Eli Lawson had a new season high with seven points.
Carmelo Yakubu led the Threshers with 16 points. He was the only Thresher in double figures for scoring. Nick Bonner pulled down six rebounds and dished out a team-high three assists.
The Tigers will have two games this weekend at home against NCAA Division II opponents. The Tigers host MSU Denver on Friday evening (Dec. 20) at 7 p.m. MSU Denver was ranked No. 22 in the latest NABC Top 25 Poll, but new rankings come out on Tuesday. The Roadrunners are 9-1 overall on the season.