Story by MAYAN PAZ Photos by DANIELA SALINAS and GILLIAN LYNCH
Tiger Media Network
Gross Memorial Coliseum has been kind to the Tiger men this season. FHSU entered the weekend’s games with a 10-1 home record, with their only blemish coming at the hands of undefeated No. 1 Washburn.
After another two impressive wins, the Tigers are now 12-1 at home and are back fighting for the second spot in the MIAA standings. With a record of 15-7 overall and an 8-5 mark in MIAA play, they are only one game behind Pittsburg State for second place.
The Tigers have had the best defense in the nation this year, allowing only 58.6 points per game. This weekend, they were even better than that, defeating Northeastern State 61-48 and Arkansas-Fort Smith 59-53. Although the Tigers struggled at times on the offensive side of the ball, FHSU relied on their strong defense to win the games.
“We just know that not every shot is a big deal. Coach was talking about it last week: every shot is enough to kind of wait on what the other teams do because we know we can defend, so we just need to keep shooting, put the ball up, and trust that our defense is going to get those stops and give us a chance to win every night,” Kaleb Hammeke said.
Hammeke led FHSU in scoring both nights, scoring 16 against the RiverHawks and 17 against the Lions.
On Saturday, the Tigers played against UAFS for the first time, as they joined the MIAA this season. The Lions, although entering the game near the bottom of the MIAA standings, were able to play aggressively and come back from 16 points down to make it a close game in what was a tough and physically challenging game for FHSU.
Senior guard R.J. Crawford, who’s been dealing with injuries this season, was able to play through his pain and guarded the Lions’ star player, Terrel Williams Jr., limiting him to five points and only 1-9 shooting from the field.
“I feel better than usual. So that’s why I was able to push through a little bit, and then I just had to stay strong and stay aggressive for the team,” Crawford said.
The Tigers played well in the first half against the Lions, taking a 34-18 lead into halftime. However, UAFS came out in a full-court press, forcing six second-half Tiger turnovers and cutting the lead down to as close as two points with four minutes to play before FHSU extended their lead for the win.
FHSU Head Coach Mark Johnson was happy with the team’s performance in the first half and said there was no doubt that the Lions would make a strong effort to get back to the game.
“Our defense was fantastic. We took care of the basketball. We only had two turnovers. I think we shot 53% from the field in the first half. So the only way the first half could have gotten any better is maybe if we made two more threes, but that was one of our better halves of the season,” Johnson said. “They’re a talented team, they’ve had a ton of close games in the second half. I think we were a little fatigued. And then you see, if you give them some openings, they can shoot it and make shots. So, we did enough in the last five minutes to win the game.”
The Tigers will now go back on the road to play Emporia State on Wednesday and Newman on Saturday.