HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Men's Basketball improved to 3-1 overall on the season with a 63-44 win over Central Christian College on Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 21) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. FHSU built an 11-point lead by halftime and went on to win by 19. Central Christian remained 2-3 overall on the season since it was an exhibition contest for them.
 
FHSU led the entire way, opening the game on a 7-0 run. Bjarni Jonsson had the first five points of the game and he went on to lead the Tigers with a near double-double of 16 points and nine rebounds. He scored 10 of his 16 in the second half.
 
Another 7-0 run by FHSU to open the second half stretched the lead to 18. It was part of a larger 17-3 run to open the second half, which pushed the FHSU lead to its largest of 25 points at the 15:00 mark of the second half. CCC finished the game on an 8-3 run to get the final margin just inside of 20.
 
Kaleb Hammeke (12) and R.J. Crawford (10) also finished in double figures scoring. Hammeke led FHSU in assists with six. FHSU outrebounded CCC 49-39. FHSU struggled a bit from the field, shooting 37.3 percent overall, but held Central Christian to 27.9 percent shooting overall.
 
Jevarrick Butler led the Central Christian scoring effort with 10 points. Andre Shelby had a team-high 10 rebounds.
 
Fort Hays State plays again at home this weekend when it hosts Manhattan Christian on Saturday night (Nov. 25) at 7 p.m. It is part of a doubleheader with the FHSU women taking on Tabor College at 5 p.m.