HAYS, Kan. — Fort Hays State fell Concordia-St. Paul 79-68 at Gross Memorial Coliseum on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 16). The Tigers dominated in the paint with 46 points, but were unable to overcome strong perimeter shooting by CSP, which made 10 3-point field goals. The Golden Bears led throughout the game, fueled by a 44-point first half. CSP moved to 2-0 on the year, while FHSU moved to 1-1.
The Golden Bears opened the game with one of their 10 3-point field goals and ran out to a 7-0 lead before the Tigers notched their first basket at 16:58. The Tigers got as close as three points one more time before another CSP 3-pointer kept the Tigers at arm's length. The CSP lead eventually reached 14 in the first half before settling at 10 by halftime, thanks to a 5-0 run just before the break capped on another 3-point field goal. The Golden Bears made seven 3-point field goals in the first half, shooting 70 percent beyond the arc.
The Tigers hit the first basket of the second half and cut the lead to eight three times the rest of the way. But, the Golden Bears had an answer every time the Tigers tried to make a push. Concordia-St. Paul's largest lead was 18 with 4:41 to play. An 11-2 run by FHSU got the lead back inside single figures momentarily with just over a minute to go, but it was not enough to late.
Eli Lawson led the Tigers with a new career-high 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and a 3-of-4 effort at the free-throw line. He also led FHSU in rebounds with seven.
Kyle Grill,
Jahvari Martino, and
Lucas Hammeke followed all with 13 points each.
Muhamed Kante and Hammeke each had three assists.
Ben Kopetzki led the Golden Bears with 24 points on 7-of-15 shooting and an 8-of-8 performance at the charity stripe. Owen Carlson had 17 points, Jaden Wysocki had 13, and Sam West added 11.
Fort Hays State heads on the road next week to South Dakota Mines for a non-conference game on Wednesday night (Nov. 19) at 8 p.m. CT (7 p.m. MT) in Rapid City, S.D. FHSU will be back at home on Sunday, November 23 to face Bethel College.
