By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Fort Hays State got off to a quick start but it didn't last long and lost 62-55 to Missouri Western State Tuesday at the MWSU Fieldhouse. The game was originally scheduled for December 10th but was postponed when the Griffons had their program shut down for a week due to COVID-19.
Kaleb Hammeke hit his first three shots, two of them 3-pointers to give FHSU (11-5, 6-4 MIAA) an early six-point lead but the Tigers turned cold and trailed by 12 at halftime and by as many as 17 in the second as the Griffons (8-6, 404 MIAA) end a three-game losing streak.
After hitting four of their first six shots to start the game, the Tigers, who were playing their fifth game in 11 days, would hit just two of their next 20 allowing the Griffons to go on a 20-5 run to take a 27-15 lead into halftime.
The Tigers trailed by 17 twice in the second half, the last with a little over 13 minutes to play.. They would go on an 14-4 run to pull within six with nine and half minutes to play. The Griffons scored the next four to push their lead back to 10.
With two minutes to play, the Tigers were down 15 when they put together an 11-2 run to pull within five but could get no closer. Redshirt freshman Lucas Hammeke provided a spark, scoring eight in the final two minutes.
Kaleb Hammeke, who had 10 of the Tigers 15 first half points, finished with a team-high 16. Elijah Nnanabu recorded his third-straight double-figure game with 15. Lucas Hammeke and Iyen Enaruna both added eight. Enaruna also pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds.
After shooting just 23.1 percent in the first half, the Tigers improved to 34.5 percent for the game but was still their low mark for a conference game this season. FHSU was just 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) from 3-point range, missing 18 consecutive shots from beyond the arc at one stretch.
JaRon Thames led MWSU with 15 points. Julius Dixon added 13 and Reese Glover 11. Glover hit three 3-pointers to tie the MWSU career record. The Griffons were 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) beyond the 3-point line, despite shooting just 11-of-29 inside the arc.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will be back at home on Saturday (Jan. 14) to take on Nebraska-Kearney. Tipoff will be at 4 p.m., which follows the women's contest at 2 p.m.