Story by ELI BLANKINSHIP Photos by ANNABELLE MALSAM
Tiger Media Network
The Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball team (7-3) defeated No. 22 MSU Denver (9-2) Friday night 66-50. With this win, the Tigers became just the sixth NCAA Division II men’s basketball program to reach 1,700 all-time wins.
Friday’s contest was the second game versus a ranked opponent inside GMC this season. No. 3 Washburn defeated the Tigers earlier this month.
The Roadrunners started the game out hot, leading by as many as 11 points with 13:12 left in the first half of play. Caleb McGill scored 18 of MSU Denver’s 24 first-half points.
“Obviously it was a tough start,” said FHSU Head Coach Mark Johnson. “[McGill] hit some hard shots and played great defense.”
After a red-hot first half, the dominant Tiger’s defense held McGill to just two points in the second half.
“Our big guys like Sean Riley and even Eli [Lawson] and his minutes, maybe statistically, their numbers don’t stand out with double-figure points or rebounds, but their defense was just making it hard on [McGill] which allowed our perimeter guys to stay out and continue to take away the three,” Johnson said.
Paving the way for the Tigers was the freshman Aidan McDowell, who scored a career-high 24 points off the bench. In his 27 minutes of playing time, McDowell went 8-11 from the floor and 7-9 from beyond the arc with five rebounds on the night.
“A lot of [my performance] was my teammates finding me in the right positions,” McDowell said. “The coaches have been kind of on my case at practice saying, ‘if you don’t have a hand in your face, then shoot the ball,’ and my teammates found me in spots where they know I’m comfortable to put the ball in the hoop.”
Another notable contributor for the Tigers was graduate student Kaleb Hammeke. Hammeke finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, all while shooting 6-14 from the field. Hammeke also became just the second player in FHSU program history to reach 1,700 career points.
“He’s the greatest winner I’ve ever been around and coached, and I think that’s the highest compliment you could ever give one of your players, and that’s who Kaleb is,” Johnson said. “He’s just a winner and we’ll miss him. That kid, just dragging everybody else at all times to win games is what he’s about.”
The Tigers will end their three-game homestand on Sunday at 2 p.m. against Regis University in their final non-conference matchup of the season.