FHSU Athletics
DENVER – Fort Hays State improved to 7-3 overall for the season with a 68-64 win at MSU Denver on Thursday evening (Dec. 18). Down by eight at halftime, the Tigers used tough defense coupled with two big second-half bursts to get past the Roadrunners (3-8).
The Tigers trailed the entire first half, but remained within striking distance, getting within one point at 10-9 before eventually trailing by eight at the break. The Tigers struggled a bit shooting the ball, just 38.7 percent before halftime, including a 2-of-11 performance beyond the 3-point arc.
The offense started to spark right out of the break as FHSU started the second half on a 12-4 run to get the game tied. Kyle Grill buried a big 3-point field goal from the wing to knot the score 38-38. FHSU started the burst with a 6-0 run to immediately cut the lead to two.
After four straight points from the Roadrunners, the Tigers really dug their claws in defensively and went on a 14-0 run over a seven-minute span from the 13:00 mark to just under the 6:00 mark. Dan Mukuna started the run with a pair of free throws, then Grill knotted the score once again with a two-point jumper. Mukuna put the Tigers into the lead for the first time on a 3-point field goal from the wing and he continued his dominance in the run five more points. Jahvari Martino capped the run with a lay in to put the Tigers up 10, 52-42. Mukuna had 10 points in the run.
A pair of Roadrunner free throws finally snapped the big Tiger run, but the Tigers continued to frustrate the Roadrunners and pushed the lead to 14 with three minutes to play. The Tigers ran into some free throw struggles late in the game and saw the Roadrunners score 20 points in the final three minutes to make things interesting late after scoring just 10 points in the first 17 minutes after the half. However, a pair of Martino free throws with 23 seconds remaining put the game out of reach, despite the lead being trimmed to just four three times inside the final minute.
Mukuna had a super-efficient offensive performance with 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field. He was 4-of-6 at the free-throw line and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Martino also had a big offensive night, scoring a new season-high 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting and a 5-of-6 performance at the charity stripe. He hit three 3-point field goals. Grill added 17 points as the trio made up 62 of the team's 68 points in the game. Lucas Hammeke dished out seven assists. FHSU shot 52 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 44.6 percent for the game.
Logan Threatt led MSU Denver with 21 points, followed by Quave Propst-Allison with 11 and Amare Bethel with 10. FHSU forced MSU Denver into 20 turnovers, including 14 in the second half, which gave the Tigers an eight-point advantage in points off turnovers after halftime.
Up next
The Tigers complete their non-conference road trip to Denver on Saturday at Regis University. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. CT / 3 p.m. MT. It will be the final non-conference game of the season for FHSU.