FHSU Athletics
Fort Hays State (22-6)
vs. Lincoln (15-14)
Thursday, March 7, 2024 • 8:15 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo. • Municipal Auditorium
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: The MIAA Network CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
The Fort Hays State men's basketball team will open play in the MIAA Tournament on Thursday night in the quarterfinals at 8:15 p.m. FHSU is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will play No. 10 seed Lincoln. Lincoln defeated No. 7 seed Emporia State in the opening round on Wednesday night 59-55 to reach Thursday's quarterfinal game. Lincoln enters the game at 15-14.
Fort Hays State enters the MIAA Tournament at 22-6 overall after finishing second alone in the MIAA regular season standings at 17-5. The 17 wins matched FHSU's most in MIAA play, also accomplished with the same conference record in 2021-22. The Tigers also produced 22 wins in the regular season of the 2021-22 campaign. In the regular season finale win over Nebraska-Kearney last week, head coach Mark Johnson reached 450 career wins.
The Tigers have reached the semifinals in the MIAA Tournament each of the last two years. The Tigers have not reached the final since 2011 when they won the conference tournament title. They have made six semifinal appearances since then. FHSU is 13-14 all-time in the MIAA Tournament. They have a record of 9-5 in MIAA quarterfinal games.
This is the third time FHSU has been the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Tournament since it joined the conference in 2006-07. The Tigers own a record of 3-1 as the No. 2 seed in the tournament, falling in the quarterfinals in 2010 to Emporia State before winning three straight in 2011 to claim the tournament title. FHSU is 0-1 against Lincoln in the MIAA Tournament. FHSU's only meeting with Lincoln in the MIAA Tournament was back in 2019 in the quarterfinals. FHSU is 1-0 against No. 10 seeds in its MIAA Tournament history.
Fort Hays State won both regular season meetings with Lincoln, taking the game in Hays by a score of 69-64 in Hays and the game in Jefferson City by a score of 60-41. Kaleb Hammeke led the Tigers in Hays with 24 points, followed by Bjarni Jonsson with 18 and Jahiem Holden with 16. Hammeke also led the Tigers in Jefferson City with 16 points, followed by Shaun Riley with 11.
Fort Hays State owns an overall mark of 32-24 in conference tournaments since joining NCAA Division II. FHSU has won five tournament titles in that span, which includes four as a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the one as a member of the MIAA in 2011. The Tigers have been good when reaching the championship game of conference tournaments, owning a record of 5-1 with the only loss being back in 2003 to Metro State as a member of the RMAC.
Fort Hays State finished among the top three in the MIAA standings for the third-straight year. FHSU has finished among the top three in the MIAA seven times under head coach Mark Johnson, which includes an MIAA regular season title back in 2012-13.
Fort Hays State had a trio of players repeat as All-MIAA selections this year, which includes Kaleb Hammeke, Bjarni Jonsson and Elijah Nnanabu.
Hammeke was a first-team selection for the second-straight year and he is now only the sixth four-time all-conference selection in FHSU program history. He joins Craig Nicholson as the only two to accomplish it during the program's NCAA Division II history, MIAA history, and under head coach Mark Johnson. Hammeke averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game in the regular season. He ranks sixth on the career scoring list at FHSU with 1,522 points and fourth on the career assists list with 432. He is only the third player in program history to reach both 1,500 points and 400 assists.
Jonsson repeated as an honorable mention selection and was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year this season. He is the fourth player in Mark Johnson's tenure to earn a conference defensive player of the year honor and third for the program as a member of the MIAA. He is the first to receive the honor since Matt Simmons in 2011-12. Jonsson is now the program's first three-time MIAA All-Defensive Team selection.
Nnanabu moved up on the All-MIAA list this year to a second-team selection after earning an honorable mention pick a season ago. He led the Tigers in scoring in MIAA-only contests at 14.0 points per game, even better than his 12.8 all-inclusive average for the regular season.
As a team, the Tigers continue to lead NCAA Division II in scoring defense at 57.4 points per game. They rank second nationally in field goal percentage defense at 39.4 percent.
The Tigers remained No. 5 in the latest NCAA Central Region Rankings, released on Wednesday. The top five remained the same in the latest edition. Minnesota State remained the No. 1 ranked team and grabbed an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the NSIC Tournament.