WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Fort Hays State picked up its first win of the 2022-23 season on Saturday (Nov. 12) with a 58-49 win over Arkansas Tech. The Tigers moved to 1-1 on the season, while the Wonder Boys dropped to 0-2.
Fort Hays State trailed only a couple of times early in the first half before overtaking Arkansas Tech with a 7-0 burst for a 13-9 lead. The Tigers held onto the lead the remainder of the first half, leading by as many as nine at 23-14 before the Wonder Boys closed the first half on an 8-2 run to make the halftime margin 25-22.
The Tiger lead grew to 11 twice within the first seven minutes of the second half, but Arkansas Tech chipped away with a 10-0 run to get back within one with 7:25 to go. Arkansas Tech climbed back to even with the Tigers on a Taelon Peter 3-point field goal with 4:44 to play, but
Kaleb Hammeke answered with a three of his own at the 4:16 mark to put the Tigers back in front for good.
The Hammeke triple sparked a 12-2 run for the Tigers to get their lead back to 10 with 1:56 to play, capped by a 3-point field goal from
Gabe Pieschl.
Elijah Nnanabu sealed the win by hitting all four of his free-throw attempts in the final 20 seconds of the game.
A big factor in the Tiger win was the free-throw line, where the Tigers went 23-of-25 (92 percent). Hammeke, Pieschl, Nnanabu,
Traejon Davis, and
Bjarni Jonsson were all perfect on their charity stripe attempts. The Tigers outscored the Wonder Boys by 13 points at the free-throw line. Arkansas Tech was 10-of-14 at the line. Both teams made 16 field goals in the game, but ATU had the edge in 3-point field goal makes 7-3.
The Tigers forced the Wonder Boys into 21 turnovers, including 10 on steals. FHSU scored 20 points off turnovers.
Hammeke led the Tigers with 23 points, going 6-of-11 from the field and 10-of-10 at the free-throw line. Pieschl had nine points, Jonsson had seven, and Nnanabu and Davis each had six. Hammeke and Davis tied for a team-high six rebounds and Hammeke led in assists with five.
Andre Leavell led the ATU scoring effort with 16 points, while Wes Harris had a team-high six rebounds. Leavell also led his squad in assists with four.
The Tigers play their first home contest of the season on Thursday night (Nov. 17) when they play host to Bethel College at 7 p.m. inside Gross Memorial Coliseum.
