FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Men's Basketball took its first conference loss of the season on Saturday afternoon at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers fell to No. 3/4 ranked Washburn by a score of 71-57, moving to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the MIAA. The Ichabods remained unbeaten on the season, now 9-0 overall and 2-0 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State led a few times in the early going, but Washburn used a 14-2 run to go up 10 and never gave the lead back from the 11:46 mark of the first half to the end of the game. The Ichabods shot 56 percent from the field in the first half and led by eight at halftime, 37-29. Brayden Shorter had the hot hand early for the Ichabods, scoring 16 of his game-high 26 in the opening half.
A Kaleb Hammeke 3-point field goal to open the second half got the margin down to five, but Washburn countered with a pair of baskets to get the lead back to nine. The closest the Tigers got the rest of the way was eight points two more times. The Tigers kept the Ichabods within a reachable margin all day, never allowing the lead to get bigger than 15, but just never found a run to make the Ichabods sweat down the stretch.
Kyle Grill led the Tigers in scoring with 16 points, followed by Hammeke with 12. They were the only Tigers to reach double figures in scoring. Dan Makuna pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and Hammeke led in assists with four.
Joining Shorter in double figures for the Ichabods was Michael Keagan (11), Jack Bachelor (11), and Andrew Orr (10). Shorter added a team-high seven rebounds to his 26 points and Bachelor led the Ichabods in assists with six.The Tigers turned the ball over a season-high 19 times, six more than their previous high. The Ichabods generated 12 steals in the game and outscored the Tigers 18-11 in points off turnovers. The Ichabods snapped FHSU's two-game run of defeating NABC Top 25 ranked opponents at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The No. 3 ranking matched the highest the Ichabods have ever held while facing the Tigers in the program's NCAA Division II era.
UP NEXT
The Tigers go back into non-conference play for the next four games this month. They travel to William Jewell on Saturday (Dec. 14) before returning home for their final three contests of December.