FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – The MIAA opener between Fort Hays State and Central Missouri was a battle on Thursday night at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers outlasted the Mules in double overtime by a score of 70-67 to win their fourth-straight game and improve to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA. UCM moved to 4-4 overall and 0-1 in the MIAA. FHSU ran its win streak over UCM to eight straight games dating back to the 2020-21 season and it was the fifth-straight win for the Tigers over the Mules in Hays.
Neither team gained more than five points of separation for nearly 35 minutes until FHSU took a seven-point lead with 5:21 to play in the second half. FHSU led by five twice in the opening half before clinging on to a one-point lead (31-30) at halftime. UCM battled back late to take a two-point lead with 57 seconds to go, but Kaleb Hammeke had the game-tying bucket with 25 seconds remaining before UCM missed a potential game-winning shot. FHSU and UCM were tied 55-55 at the end of regulation.
Neither team had much offensive success in the first overtime as both teams had just four points. The Tigers had to tie the game late again on a Lucas Hammeke drive to the bucket to knot the game at 59-59 and force the second extra-period. UCM missed another potential game-winning shot just before the buzzer.
Free throws were key for FHSU in the second overtime as four straight took the Tigers from two down to two up. Shaun Riley tacked on a field goal to move the lead to four with 1:41 to play. Lucas Hammeke then provided the biggest bucket of the night for the Tigers with 14 seconds left, pushing the lead to four again on another drive to the bucket. The Mules made a shot to get the lead back to two, but Kaleb Hammeke hit one of two free throws to get the lead to three. UCM missed a corner 3-point field goal attempt and time ran out, sealing the win for FHSU.
The back-and-forth battle saw 26 lead changes and 17 ties throughout the night. Sixteen of the 26 lead changes happened in the first half. Fort Hays State is now 12-0 in overtime games at Gross Memorial Coliseum under head coach Mark Johnson.
Kaleb Hammeke led the Tiger scoring effort with 19 points, a new season high for him. With his first two points of the night at the free throw line, he moved to second on the all-time scoring list at FHSU, passing Mark Wilson who had 1,631 in his career from 1978-81. Hammeke has 1,649 points in his career, now just 117 points shy of the record 1,766 held by Alonzo Goldston.
Shaun Riley (15), Dan Mukuna (12), and Kyle Grill (11) joined Hammeke as Tigers in double figures scoring. Riley had a team-best eight rebounds and four assists. FHSU finished 39.6 percent from the field overall, but was a strong 85.2 percent at the free-throw line (23-of-27).
Kyran Tilley led the Mules in scoring with 21 points, followed by Elijah Farr with 14, Jack Chapman with 12, and DeAirius Barker with 10. FHSU held UCM to just 35.2 percent shooting overall, but UCM was also strong at the free-throw line at 87.5 percent (21-of-24).
UP NEXT
The Tigers look to ride the momentum of a big conference-opening victory into a date with the No. 3/4 ranked team in the country on Saturday. Washburn comes to Hays with a record of 8-0 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA after a 35-point win at Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at Gross Memorial Coliseum.