(RV) Fort Hays State (1-1) at
South Dakota Mines (1-1)
Wednesday, November 19 – 8 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. MT
Rapid City, S.D. – King Center
 
After a 1-1 weekend to open the 2025-26 season at home, Fort Hays State will play its first road contest of the season on Wednesday night (Nov. 19) at South Dakota Mines. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT, but 7 p.m. locally in Rapid City. Live streaming will be available on The RMAC Network, which can be purchased as a single-game ($10) or monthly ($25) subscription.
 
Both teams enter the game 1-1 overall on the season. FHSU is coming off a 65-56 win over No. 9 ranked Southwest Minnesota State and a loss to RV Concordia-St. Paul 79-68 to open the year. The Hardrockers went 1-1 at home in a pair of back-to-back games against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
The Tigers and Hardrockers are meeting for the fifth time in history, but this will be the first-ever meeting in Rapid City. The four previous games were all in Hays, all won by the Tigers. FHSU won last year 76-52 in Hays, which was the lowest amount of points scored by both teams in the all-time series. FHSU is averaging 84 points over the four previous meetings. Kyle Grill had 21 points and seven rebounds in the game between the schools last year.
 
Fort Hays State's win over No. 9 ranked Southwest Minnesota State was its first over a top-10 ranked team at home since the 2007-08 season, when it defeated a No. 8 ranked Southwestern Oklahoma State squad. However, overall, the Tigers' last win over a top-10 team was back on New Year's Eve of the 2023-24 season when the Tigers defeated a No. 5 ranked Central Oklahoma team in Edmond.
 
Fort Hays State has done much of its damage in the paint this year, outscoring opponents 68-44 in that area. The Tigers have scored 51.1 percent of their points for the season in the paint so far.
 
Jahvari Martino is leading the Tigers in scoring so far at 15 per game. He had a season-high 17 in the win over Southwest Minnesota State. He is the only reserve off the bench to score for the Tigers so far this season. Five Tigers are averaging double figures in scoring, which also includes Grill, Eli Lawson, Lucas Hammeke, and Dan Mukuna.
 
Lawson posted a career-high in scoring and rebounds in the loss to Concordia-St. Paul. He had 23 points and seven rebounds. He made 10 field goals in that contest.
 
Jason Lee leads South Dakota Mines in scoring through two games, averaging 20.5 points. He had 27 in the season opener against Texas A&M-Kingsville. He has scored 22 of his 41 points for the season at the free-throw line.