EDMOND, Okla. – Fort Hays State picked up a huge road win on Sunday (Dec. 31) to close out the 2023 calendar year, knocking off No. 5/8 ranked Central Oklahoma in Edmond by a score of 67-60. Tied with 1:30 to play, the Tigers ended the game on a 9-2 run all on points scored by Kaleb Hammeke to outlast the Bronchos in a game that saw 13 ties and nine lead changes. The Tigers improved to 9-3 overall, 4-2 in the MIAA, while the Bronchos dropped to 12-2 overall and also 4-2 in the MIAA.
 
The result gave Fort Hays State its first win over an NABC Top 10 ranked team in a true road contest since the 2009-10 season, when they knocked off a No. 1 ranked Central Missouri team in Warrensburg. The Tigers were ranked No. 13 nationally at the time of that meeting. In regards to Fort Hays State's NCAA Division II history, it was just the third win ever over an NABC Top 10 ranked team on the road, with the only other occurrence during the 1995-96 undefeated national championship season when the Tigers were No. 1 in the nation and defeated a No. 10 ranked Nebraska-Kearney team in Kearney. FHSU is now 3-0 this season against NABC Top 25 ranked teams with all three wins occurring in the month of December.
 
The win snapped a five-game win streak for UCO in the series between the teams, which went back to the 2021-22 season. The Tigers also held the Bronchos to their lowest scoring output in Edmond in the all-time series history, topping the previous mark of 66 which occurred three times.
 
Central Oklahoma opened the game on a 7-0 run, only to see FHSU counter with a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the game. The unanswered runs would become a theme as the seesaw battle was underway. Hammeke opened the Tiger scoring with a 3-point field goal and followed that with a two, then baskets from Elijah Nnanabu and Bjarni Jonsson pushed the Tigers in front for the first time.
 
By the first media break, the game was level at 9-9, then level again at the second media break, 21-21, with 9:44 to go in the opening half. The Tigers were on a 5-0 run to get back even going into the second media break. UCO was able to get ahead by six points three times the remainder of the half, which was the lead margin at halftime (35-29). FHSU had a balanced scoring effort in the opening half with baskets from seven different players, led by Hammeke with eight and Shaun Riley with six. UCO was able to build its advantage by shooting nine more free throws than FHSU, holding an eight-point advantage at the charity stripe at intermission.
 
Fort Hays State quickly erased the six-point deficit early in the second half with a 7-1 run to get the game level again at 36-36. Hammeke started the run with a pair of free throws, then Jonsson hit a three and Nnanabu made a layup. The teams then traded baskets, UCO hit a free throw, then Jonsson delivered another big shot by hitting his second 3-pointer to put the Tigers back in front (41-39) for the first time since the 13:16 mark of the first half.
 
While the Tigers were finding a way to get back into the game, free throw shooting started to become an adventure for the Bronchos. They would end up hitting only 6-of-16 free tosses in the second half. Many of the misses would come in big moments.
 
After UCO hit just one of two free throws, Kyle Grill buried a corner 3-pointer and then Riley made a tough contested layup to push the Tiger lead to six with 13:40 to play. However, UCO would not go quietly as it used a 7-0 burst to jump back in front, 47-46, as Parker Hannah scored all five of his points off the bench in the burst.
 
Nnanabu briefly put the Tigers back up by one on a turnaround jumper, but UCO then used a 6-0 burst to take a five-point lead, 53-48, with 8:20 to play. It was part of a bigger 13-2 run by the Bronchos after being down six.
 
The Tigers battled back in front once more with an 8-0 run of their own, started with a layup by Riley. Jaheim Holden added a driving layup, Riley buried a pair of free throws to get the Tigers back in front, and Traejon Davis had a big offensive rebound stick back to cap the run with 5:22 to play.
 
The final act of the suspense-filled contest went the way of the Tigers in the final two minutes. After FHSU had several good looks from 3-point range to extend their lead, UCO pulled back even on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Danquez Dawsey with just over a minute and a half to play. That is when Hammeke went to work and took over the game, driving to the bucket to create an old-fashioned 3-point play of his own. It put the Tigers back up by three with 1:20 to play. UCO missed a pair of free throws and then Hammeke buried a running jumper with 26 seconds to play to get the lead to five. UCO turned the ball over on its next possession and Hammeke buried a pair of free throws to get the lead to seven. UCO made a layup with seven seconds to play, but Hammeke iced the game with another pair of free throws, producing the final score of 67-60.
 
Hammeke scored nine of his 11 second half points in the final 1:30 of the game and finished with 19 for the game to lead the Tigers. Riley also reached double figures overall with 12. Nnanabu was just a point shy of a double-double with nine and a career-high 10 rebounds, while also leading the team in assists with four. Jonsson finished with eight points, while Grill matched his season/career high with seven off the bench for the second-straight game.
 
Dawsey finished with a team-high 18 points for the Bronchos, their only player to reach double figures in scoring. The Tigers handcuffed UCO's top scorer Jaden Wells to just five points after entering the game averaging 18.1 per game. It was the first time this season he was held under 11 points. Wells did help his team on the glass with a team-best nine rebounds. Once the Bronchos reached the bonus for free-throw shooting, they were just 1-of-8 from the line in the final seven minutes of the game. That included a pair of misses on the front end of 1-and-1 opportunities when the Tigers were clinging to a slim lead.

FHSU made three more 3-point field goals and two more 2-point field goals than the Bronchos to make up for a six-point deficit at the free-throw line. After Hammeke missed his first two free-throw attempts of the game, FHSU was 10-of-10 as a team the rest of the way to finish 10-of-12. Hammeke finished 8-of-10 at the line, while Riley accounted for the other two charity tosses. UCO shot 28 free throws and made just 16, and also struggled mightily from 3-point range at just 2-of-16.
 
The Tigers look to build off the momentum of the big win when they return home this next week to face Central Missouri (Thursday, Jan. 4) and Lincoln (Saturday, Jan. 6).