By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post Sports
HAYS, Kan. — Fort Hays State fell behind early and could never dig out from the early deficit and lost 79-68 to Concordia-St. Paul Sunday afternoon at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
The Golden Bears (2-0) scored the game's first seven points and never trailed, hitting seven of their 10 threes in the first half and led by 10 at halftime. The lead grew as big as 18 with 4:41 to play. An 11-2 run by FHSU got the lead back inside single figures momentarily with just over a minute to go, but it was not enough to late.
The Tigers (1-1) dominated in the paint, scoring 46 points, but were only able to connect on two 3-pointers.
Eli Lawson led the Tigers with a new career-high 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and a 3-of-4 effort at the free-throw line. He also led FHSU in rebounds with seven. Kyle Grill, Jahvari Martino, and Lucas Hammeke followed all with 13 points each. Muhamed Kante and Hammeke each had three assists.
Ben Kopetzki led the Golden Bears with 24 points on 7-of-15 shooting and an 8-of-8 performance at the charity stripe. Owen Carlson had 17 points, Jaden Wysocki had 13, and Sam West added 11.
Up next
Fort Hays State heads on the road next week to South Dakota Mines for a non-conference game on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT in Rapid City, S.D. FHSU will be back at home on Sunday, November 23 to face Bethel College.