FHSU Athletics
Bethel College (2-2) at
Fort Hays State (1-1)
Thursday, November 17 - 7 PM
Hays, Kan. - Gross Memorial Coliseum
Radio - KJLS (103.3)
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Fort Hays State Men's Basketball will be in action on its home floor for the first time this season Thursday night (Nov. 17) when it plays host to Bethel College. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers enter at 1-1 overall, while the Threshers are 2-2 on the season.
The Tigers split their first two games of the season last weekend in Weatherford, Oklahoma. They fell to weekend host Southwestern Oklahoma State 59-56 in the season opener on Friday, but bounced back for a 58-49 win over Arkansas Tech on Saturday. Fort Hays State had nearly identical scoring outputs in the two contests with 56 against Southwestern Oklahoma State and 58 against Arkansas Tech.
Even with the low scoring totals in the first two games and struggling to just 34.5 percent shooting as a team, the Tigers countered with strong defense allowing just an average of 54 points per game. Neither SWOSU or ATU reached 60 points. The Tigers were the second-best team in NCAA Division II last year for scoring defense and kept that trend going in the first two contests of this season. Last year, the Tigers held opponents to an average of 56.5 points per game.
Kaleb Hammeke led the Tigers in scoring over the first two games, averaging 17.5 points per game. He led the team in scoring in both contests with 12 against SWOSU and 23 against ATU. He also produced a team-high 3.5 assists per game over the two contests. Gabe Pieschl (8.0) and Iyen Enaruna (7.5) combined to average 15.5 rebounds per contest. FHSU is outrebounding the opposition by seven per game right now, averaging 40 per contest compared to 33 for opponents.
The Tigers had a very strong opening weekend at the free-throw line, hitting 33-of-37 attempts for an 89.2 percent clip. That ranks third in NCAA Division II so far this season, only behind a pair of Great American Conference teams hitting at over a 90-percent rate through the first two games.
Bethel has three players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Clifford Byrd II at 16.8 points per game. The Threshers have scored at least 67 points in all of their contests, but allowed 76 or more in three of their four games played. This will be an exhibition contest for Bethel even though it is a regular season game for FHSU.