FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State fought an uphill battle all day, tied the game late, and got a defensive stop to force overtime on Saturday at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The No. 14/25 ranked Tigers came out victorious in the extra frame by two points as the Lions missed an attempt in low on a drive to potentially tie the game. FHSU picked up its first win in overtime this season by a score of 67-65, improving to 21-6 overall and 16-5 in the MIAA.
With the win, Fort Hays State locked up the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Tournament with one regular season game to play. Northwest Missouri State claimed the conference regular season title outright on Saturday with a win over Missouri Western.
Just like Thursday night, the Tigers battled a hot shooting opponent and their own offensive woes in the first half. The Tigers at one point were down 18 points at the 8:16 mark of the first half (28-10) before using a 12-2 run to get the deficit back into single figures. A 3-point field goal by the Lions just before the first-half buzzer stretched their lead to 35-24 at halftime.
For the second half, also very similar to Thursday night, the Tigers used a big run to get back in the game, but had to do it a second time late to have a chance. This time, fortune was on the Tigers' side. The Tigers' first run was 11-0 between the 18:06 and 15:12 marks to get the MSSU lead down to just two. But moments later, the Lions went on an 11-0 burst and took their lead back out to 14 with 11:43 to play.
The Tigers would not go without a fight and they stormed back again with a 17-4 run to get the lead down to one with 3:22 to play. The Tigers kept chipping away and then pounced when the Lions left the door open hitting only one of two free-throw attempts with a minute remaining. Kaleb Hammeke would go on to knot the game at 63-63 on a 3-point field goal from the right wing. The Tigers were able to fight off multiple looks by the Lions in the closing seconds to force overtime.
The Tigers willed their way to victory by grinding out the extra period by a score of 4-2. Elijah Nnanabu made the first bucket of overtime with about 3:30 to go and then MSSU hit a pair of free throws with three minutes remaining. Kaleb Hammeke would make the final bucket of the game with 1:20 remaining and the Tiger defense found three straight stops to gut out a win. The Tigers held the Lions to 0-of-6 shooting from the field in overtime to claim a huge win and sweep the season series between the teams.
Bjarni Jonsson was clutch for the Tigers in the second half. After the team shot just 2-of-13 beyond the 3-point line in the first half (both makes from Traejon Davis), Jonsson found his long-range shot in the second period. He hit a new career-high five 3-point field goals and went on to lead the Tigers in scoring with 17 points.
Hammeke finished with 13 and his only three made of the game was the shot that forced overtime. Hammeke passed the 1,500-point mark for his career in the win, now with 1,510. He is only the third player in program history to have at least 1,500 points and 400 assists, joining Raymond Lee and Mark Wilson. Hammeke led the team in assists for the game with six.
Shaun Riley was just a little shy of a double-double, finishing with eight points and a team-high nine rebounds. Davis and Kyle Grill each had eight points as well.
The Lions had four players score in double figures, led by Avery Taggart with 18. Vinson Sigmon, Jr. had 15, Parker Long had 13, and Darius Dawson with 10. Long was nearing a potential triple-double, adding 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Fort Hays State closes out the regular season next week at home, hosting Nebraska-Kearney for Senior Night on Friday (Mar. 1) at 7:30 p.m.