By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
INDIANAPOLIS – Fresh off a championship run in the MIAA Tournament, Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball secured an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament, announced Sunday (March 9) by the NCAA. With a record of 22-9, the Tigers earned the No. 7 seed in the Central Region and will take on No. 2 seed MSU Moorhead in the regional quarterfinals at Lee Arena in Topeka, Kansas.
This marks Fort Hays State’s 15th NCAA Central Regional appearance overall and back-to-back years the Tigers are in the big dance. Under 24th-year head coach Mark Johnson, FHSU has reached the NCAA Tournament nine times.
The Tigers enter the tournament battle-tested, having navigated a grueling MIAA slate before claiming the conference tournament title. Their nation-leading scoring defense has been the backbone of their success.
Fort Hays State is one of two teams from the MIAA to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, joining nationally ranked and Central Region host Washburn. The Ichabods are the No. 1 seed in the Central Region, so the tournament will be held at Lee Arena in Topeka. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference placed five teams in the field, while the Great American Conference secured just one with Harding getting the automatic qualifier.
More details on the regional, including game times, ticket information, and additional coverage, will be released as they become available.
2025 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship Central Region Tournament Quarterfinal Matchups
No. 1 Washburn vs. No. 8 Harding
No. 4 Minot State vs. No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul
No. 2 MSU Moorhead vs. No. 7 Fort Hays State
No. 3 Winona State vs. No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State
MIAA Tournament recap
Championship
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball claimed its second MIAA Tournament title with a 72-71 win over Central Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon (Mar. 9) at Municipal Auditorium. The Tigers grabbed the MIAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers moved to 22-9 overall, while the Bronchos finished their season at 19-13 overall.
The Tigers came out on the good end of a back-and-forth battle that saw 18 lead changes and 12 ties throughout. The last minute was full of drama as Kyle Grill broke a tie and put the Tigers up three with just under a minute to play. But just a few moments later, Israel Hart launched about a 30-foot 3-point field goal, made it, and was fouled. He hit the free throw to put the Bronchos up one with 47 seconds to go. Kaleb Hammeke drew a foul with 27 seconds to go and hit both free throws to put the Tigers on top. Then in typical Tiger fashion, defense punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament as they got a defensive stop just before the buzzer to hang on by a point.
Both teams struggled to find any separation in the first half. Fort Hays State held the biggest lead of the half, a seven-point advantage with the score at 29-22. However, UCO outscored FHSU 14-6 over the final six minutes of the half to take a 36-35 lead at halftime.
With about 14:30 to go in the game, UCO held its largest lead of seven points by a score of 48-41. But the Tigers showed grit and countered with a 9-0 run to take the lead back at 50-48. The Tigers held a six-point lead of 67-61 with 3:30 to play, but the Bronchos countered with a 6-0 run to even the score and set up the drama in the final minute of the game that bounced the Tigers’ way.
Kaleb Hammeke finished with a team-high 22 points. He was a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw line, hitting his most crucial pair of the game. He was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Kyle Grill was also named to the All-Tournament Team, making his case with a 17-point performance going 7-of-10 from the field with three 3-point field goals. Dan Mukunaprovided a big stretch of minutes in the second half for the Tigers and finished with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Hammeke dished out a team-high four assists. Lucas Hammeke was critical in FHSU’s 9-0 run in the second half and finished with six points.
Hart led UCO with a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds. He also tied for his team’s lead in assists with four. Jacobi Sebock had 16 points and JV Seat added 11. Hart and Seat were named to the all-tournament team as well.
Fort Hays State is a perfect 2-for-2 in MIAA championship games, also winning back in 2011. It was also the second tournament title under head coach Mark Johnson, who has now coached the Tigers to four conference titles (2 tournament, 2 regular season). The FHSU men are 6-1 overall in conference tournament title games in their NCAA Division II history.
Semifinals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball put on a display of what it does best on Saturday (Mar. 8) in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals at Municipal Auditorium. With the nation’s top scoring defense, FHSU won 61-43 over Rogers State improving to 21-9 and moved on to Sunday’s championship game. Rogers State closed its season at 23-10 overall.
The 43 points by Rogers State was a new low by a Tiger opponent in the MIAA Tournament. It was just one point off the tournament record of 42 that Pittsburg State was held to in 2008 by Northwest Missouri State. It was the third-lowest point total by a Tiger opponent this year and the sixth time this season they held an opponent inside of 50 points.
Fort Hays State had a couple of bursts in the first half to get some separation from Rogers State. A 12-3 run over about three and a half minutes gave the Tigers an eight-point lead of 17-9. They eventually ended the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 32-20 lead into halftime.
The Tigers really imposed their defensive will early in the second half, holding the Hillcats scoreless for the first six minutes after halftime. The run carried over from the first half reached 12-0 overall as the Tigers led by 18 before the Hillcats scored their first basket of the second frame. FHSU never let Rogers State closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
Fort Hays State held Rogers State to just 31.3 percent shooting overall from the field. The Tigers countered with 42.6 percent shooting, hitting eight more field goals than the Hillcats. FHSU scored two more points at the free-throw line. FHSU outrebounded RSU 37-28 and held an eight-point advantage in points off turnovers.
Kaleb Hammeke led the Tigers with 18 points and five assists. Shaun Riley added 14 points on an efficient 5-of-7 effort from the field with a team-best three blocked shots. Traejon Davis led the Tigers in rebounds with six. All 11 available Tigers played in the game.
Anthony Marshall Jr. led the Hillcats with 11 points, while Caden Fry added 10.