FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Kaleb Hammeke scored 27 points in his final home game to lead Fort Hays State to a 79-57 win over Nebraska-Kearney Wednesday at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The win improved the Tigers to 19-8 overall and 12-6 in the MIAA and was their 10th-straight at home. FHSU built a 12-point lead by halftime and never let the Lopers closer than nine in the second half on their way to posting a 15-1 record at home in the regular season. Nebraska-Kearney moved to 11-15 overall on the season and 9-9 in the MIAA.
Nebraska-Kearney held a small lead for about the first five minutes of the game until FHSU moved in front for good with the score at 9-8. That triggered a 10-2 run to push the Tigers to a seven-point lead about midway through the first half. The Tigers saw their lead grow to 15 points twice in the half before leading 40-28 at halftime.
After UNK got the lead down to nine with about 17 minutes to go in the game, FHSU went on a 9-0 run to double the lead up to 18 points. The Tigers cruised from that point, getting the lead out to the final margin of 22 twice.
Kaleb Hammeke made nine of his 12 shots from the field with three 3-point field goals. He was also a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. He added five assists and tied for the team high in rebounds with five. Hammeke is now just three points shy of the 2,000-point mark for his career.
Kyle Grill (14), Traejon Davis (10), and Dan Makuna (10) also finished in double figures for scoring. Grill was perfect shooting the ball for the night, going 4-of-4 beyond the 3-point line and 2-of-2 at the free-throw line. All five FHSU starters had at least seven points in the game.
Allen Taylor led the Lopers with 19 points, followed by Ja'Bryant Hill with 13 and Clayton Moore with 10.FHSU shot a blistering 56.8 percent from the field, while UNK shot 42.9 percent. The Tigers were a solid 19-of-22 at the free-throw line for the night as well.
With the win, FHSU moved up into a tie for second in the MIAA standings with Rogers State and Pittsburg State.
UP NEXT
Fort Hays State gets a couple days of rest before having to take on Nebraska-Kearney again on Saturday, this time in Kearney. Tipoff will be at 4 p.m. at the Health and Sports Center. FHSU will be seeking its 13th 20-win season under head coach Mark Johnson.