HAYS, Kan. – After playing to a 33-33 tie in the first half, Fort Hays State opened the second half on a 24-0 run to take command and went on to win 75-46 over Manhattan Christian on Saturday night (Nov. 25) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers moved to 4-1 overall on the season, while the Thunder remained 1-4 on the season since the contest was an exhibition for them.
 
Three-point shooting kept Manhattan Christian in the game early on as it made seven in the first half. They held the lead four times, but FHSU scored the final four points of the first half to get the game knotted up at the break. Neither team led by more than four points in the first frame.
 
The Tigers locked down defensively to open the second half, holding the Thunder scoreless for 8:54. During that span, the Tiger offense was clicking on all cylinders as they went on a 24-0 run. FHSU was 9-of-13 from the field during the run, led by Elijah Nnanabu with 10 points during the burst. Overall, it was a 28-0 run for the Tigers going back to the first half. Dyelan Reed, who led MCC with 15 points, snapped the run finally with a jumper at 11:06 on the clock. Manhattan Christian missed its first 14 field goal attempts of the second half. FHSU eventually ended the game on a 7-0 burst to win by 29, its largest lead of the game.
 
Nnanabu finished with a team-high 17 points for the Tigers on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and a 3-of-4 effort at the free-throw line. Kaleb Hammeke and R.J. Crawford each had 13 points. Hammeke led the Tigers with seven assists, while Traejon Davis pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Aside from Reed's 15, Jaxon Hurla was the only other MCC player to reach double figures in scoring with 11.
 
FHSU shot 52.4 percent overall for the game, which included a 58.1 percent effort after halftime. The Tigers held the Thunder to 27.0 percent shooting overall from the field, including just a 1-of-12 effort beyond the 3-point line in the second half after their early success shooting the ball from beyond the arc.
 
Fort Hays State enters conference play on Thursday night (Nov. 30) at Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Okla. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m., which follows the women's contest at 5:30 p.m.