FHSU Athletics
Fort Hays State (9-3, 4-2 MIAA) at
Lincoln (7-2, 3-2 MIAA)
Monday, January 2 - 3 PM
Jason Gym - Jefferson City, Mo.
Radio - KJLS (103.3)
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Fort Hays State heads to Jefferson City, Mo. on Monday (Jan. 2) for its first of two contests this season with Lincoln University. FHSU enters at 9-3 overall on the season and sits in a tie for third in the MIAA standings at 4-2. Lincoln enters the contest on at three-game win streak, now 7-2 overall and 3-2 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State is coming off a 57-46 win at Central Missouri on Saturday (Dec. 31). It was the first conference road win for the Tigers this season in just two tries and first win in a true road contest in just three tries. Lincoln enters with a 5-1 mark at home so far this season after a 78-65 win over Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday. Lincoln is 3-2 in MIAA play, though two of the wins were by a combined three points with a two-point win at Central Missouri and a one-point win at home over Newman.
Fort Hays State owns a three-game win streak over Lincoln. The Tigers swept the regular season series last year winning 66-52 in Hays then 73-35 in Jefferson City. The 38-point win for FHSU was its largest in Jefferson City, topping the previous best of 33 by the 2010-11 team. FHSU is just 4-7 all-time in Jefferson City and had lost four straight there until last year's blowout win. FHSU leads the all-time series with Lincoln 18-10.
Kaleb Hammeke leads FHSU in scoring at 17.5 points per game. He averaged 16 in the two meetings with Lincoln last year. Jaheim Holden reached double figures in scoring for the Tigers for the third time this year in the win at Central Missouri on Saturday with 12. He along with Elijah Nnanabu (9.1), Bjarni Jonsson (7.9), Traejon Davis (7.2), and Gabe Pieschl (7.1) all average better than seven points per game. Pieschl leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 per game.
Artese Stapleton of Lincoln is the top scorer in the MIAA at 19.8 points per game. He scored at least 13 points in every game for Lincoln this season and topped 20 three times. His season best was 29 points in a loss to nationally ranked Central Oklahoma.
Fort Hays State and Lincoln have two of the best scoring defenses in NCAA Division II. As of Thursday (Dec. 29), FHSU ranked fourth and Lincoln ranked 12th nationally. FHSU is allowing 57 points per game, while Lincoln is allowing 61 per game on average.