
By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post
EDMOND, Okla. - Fort Hays State's Kaleb Hammeke hit a couple of key late baskets and scored a game-high 19 points and the Tigers picked up their third win over a nationally ranked opponent with a 67-60 victory over No. 5 Central Oklahoma Sunday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.
It's the Tigers (9-3, 4-2 MIAA) first true road win over an an NABC Top-10 opponent since beating No. 1 Central Missouri in Warrensburg on January 4, 2010 and only their third true road win over a Top-10 team in FHSU's Division II history. It's their third win over a ranked team this season.
The win snapped the Bronchos five-game win streak and ended UCO's 16-game home win streak dating back to last season.
In a game that saw 13 ties and nine lead changes, the Tigers outscored UCO (12-2, 4-2 MIAA) 9-2 over the final 1:30 with Hammeke scoring all nine for FHSU. He converted a conventional 3-pount play after being fouled on a layup with 1:20 to play. Hammeke buried a running jumper with 26 seconds to play to push the lead to five. After a UCO turnover, Hammeke b0uried a pair of free throws to get the lead to seven.
Central Oklahoma opened the game on a 7-0 run, only to see FHSU counter with the next nine points. UCO used a 6-0 run to build a six-point lead late in the first half and led 35-29 at halftime.
The Tigers opened the second half with a 7-1 run to tie the game at 36-all then pushed their lead to six with 13:32 to play thanks to two 3-pointers from Bjarni Jonsson and one from Kyle Grill.
UCO responded with a 13-2 run to go up 53-38 with 8:20 to play only to see the Tigers score the next eight points to retake the lead following a timeout.
Hammeke finished with a game-high 19 points including 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Shaun Riley added 12 points. Elijah Nnanabu scored nine and pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds and dished out four assists. Jonsson finished with eight points, while Grill matched his season/career high with seven off the bench for the second-straight game.
Danquez Dawsey finished with a team-high 18 points for the Bronchos and was their only player to reach double figures scoring. The Tigers handcuffed UCO's top scorer Jaden Wells to just five points after entering the game averaging 18.1 per game.
After making 10-of-12 free throws in the first half, the Bronchos went 6-for-16 from the line in the second half and only 1-of-8 after reaching the bonus in the final seven minutes of the game. After hitting 14 threes in their blowout win over Nebraska-Kearney Friday, they went 2-for-16 against the Tigers.
UP NEXT
The Tigers look to build off the momentum of the big win when they return home this next week to face Central Missouri (Thursday, Jan. 4) and Lincoln (Saturday, Jan. 6).