Story by CAYDEN SANDERS Photos by MAYCIE HOLDEMAN and ANNABELLE MALSAM
Tiger Media Network
After winning the MIAA Tournament title last season and making its second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, FHSU men’s basketball opened the 2025-26 campaign with two challenging foes this weekend. The (RV) Tigers hosted #9 Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul in the MIAA/NSIC Challenge.
FHSU used a strong second half to defeat SMSU 65-56 on Saturday, but fell to CSP on Sunday, 79-68.
Against the Mustangs, FHSU controlled the majority of the contest, shooting 52.4% from the field and holding SMSU to just 35.2% shooting. The Tigers used a 12-5 run in the second half to open the game up.
Junior forward Dan Mukuna and red-shirt sophomore Jahvari Martino were the top scorers for the Tigers in the game with 17 points each.
“It comes from practice,” Martino said. “He (coach) lets me do what I do; he knows my game. He knows what I like to get to, and he just lets me do it the right way, and as long as I don’t get carried away.”
Martino redshirted last year after playing his freshman year at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. A native of Gresham, Oregon, Martino discussed the differences between basketball at the MIAA and JUCO levels.
“In Kansas, it’s more physical and a lot harder defense. I do like playing out here because it does challenge me as a player, I just was not expecting the game would have this much of a change than what I am used to,” Martino said.
Kyle Grill and Lucas Hammeke also finished in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively, against SMSU.
While the Tiger defense limited SMSU’s shooting on Saturday, CSP went 10-21 from beyond the arc and shot 46.4% from the floor on Sunday. FHSU Head Coach Mark Johnson discussed how the Golden Bears’ three-point shooting made the difference in the game.
“We weren’t very good defensively; we didn’t rebound the ball well enough. Big thing for us, we’re just turning the ball over too much. Yesterday, we had 16; today, we had 14. But we just got killed from the three-point line,” Johnson said. “They had 10. We had 2, so that’s 24 points, just right there.”
Dan Makuna goes up for a basket 
Jahvari Martino at the free throw line 
#4, Jahvari Martino sinks a free throw 
Eli Lawson, #32, at the free throw line 
Eli Lawson sinks a free throw 
Kyle Grill drives to the basket 
Lucas Hammeke drives into the lane 
Dan Mukuna lays one in the basket 
#3, Hammeke, scans the floor 
Kyle Grill follows through on his shot 
#0, Mukuna dribbles the ball up the floor 
Lucas Hammeke with a strong take to the basket 
Eli Lawson looks to pass 
Dan Mukuna goes for a layup 
Jahvari Martino brings the ball up the court 
Eli Lawson scans the floor 
Kyle Grill heads to the basket 
Kyle Grill pulls up for a short jumper 
Kyle Grill ready to make a move 
Eli Lawson follows through on his shot 
#1, Kyle Grill, with a strong take to the basket 
#10, Blake Danitschek, on the perimeter 
Lucas Hammeke lays one in 
Eli Lawson and Dan Mukuna in the pre-game huddle
Sophomore forward Eli Lawson scored a career high 23 points to go along with 7 rebounds in Sunday’s loss. He said the team needs to be able to move forward even after dropping a game.
“Coach said to us, it’s not what happens during the game, it’s how you react. We have a big road trip coming up, with a few practices ahead of it,” sophomore forward Eli Lawson said. “We’ve got to get a little bit better on defense and work on our effort. It was the second game of the year, we got time, and we’re still learning each other.”
In addition to his career high, Lawson’s 23-point effort was the first time he scored 20 points in a collegiate game.
“It felt good, but there are a lot of things I did wrong, too. (I turned) it over a couple of times,” Lawson said. “I just took what they gave me, and so I was just doing my part. It wasn’t anything extraordinary. I was just doing what I could to try and help us win, but we got to get better as a team, and we will.”
Martino, Grill and Hammeke all scored 13 points on Sunday.
“We went out there, gave it the best we could, and played hard,” Martino said. “We gave it the best we got. We just couldn’t execute right on the defensive end, sadly. But we’ll come back on Wednesday and get it done.”
FHSU returns to action on Wednesday on the road against South Dakota Mines before returning to Hays for three games over fall break.
“Our guys really want to play games right now. It’s been a long preseason, but a long bus ride, and this kind of worries me about fatigue. This early in the season, they got a new coach, new players, and have already gotten off to a much better start,” Johnson said of Wednesday’s game. “I have not watched a lot, but from what I’ve seen, they’re a much-improved team. So it’ll be a hard, hard game, and we need to go out there and try to win.”