FHSU Athletics
KEARNEY, Neb. – Fort Hays State closed out the 2022-23 regular season with a 45-42 win at Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday. The Tigers moved to 20-8 overall and went 15-7 in the MIAA. Nebraska-Kearney finished the season at 5-23 overall, 3-19 in the MIAA. FHSU tied for third in the MIAA regular season standings and will be the No. 3 in next week's MIAA Tournament.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the low-scoring affair. UNK made the first basket of the game for a 3-0 lead, but the Tigers made the next two baskets and never trailed again in the first half. FHSU went on an 8-0 run to end the first half, capped on a 3-point field goal by Bjarni Jonsson just before time expired. FHSU led 23-15 at the break.
The Tigers took their largest lead of the game at 31-21 with 14:06 remaining, but UNK rallied back with an 11-0 run to take a 32-31 lead with 10 minutes to play. The lead went back and forth a bit before FHSU used a 7-0 run to climb back ahead 41-35. The Lopers got back within one at 43-42 with a minute to go, but Kaleb Hammeke pushed the lead back up to three with a pair of free throws at 15 seconds remaining after a defensive stop. UNK's last-second 3-point attempt was blocked by Traejon Davis, who sealed the win for the Tigers.
Kaleb Hammeke produced a double-double by scoring 11 points and pulling down a career-high 15 rebounds to lead the Tigers. He was the only FHSU player to reach double figures in scoring. He also led the team in assists with four. Elijah Nnanabu had nine points and Iyen Enaruna had eight.
Darrian Nebeker was the only UNK player to reach double figures in scoring with 10 points. Winston Cook pulled down 13 rebounds for the Lopers.
As the No. 3 seed in the MIAA Tournament, the Tigers will face No. 6 seed Rogers State in the quarterfinals on Friday (Mar. 3). Tipoff will be at 2:15 p.m. inside Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.