Men's Basketball | 1/8/2013 12:14:00 AM
BACK TO BOLIVAR
Emporia State travels to Bolivar, Mo. to take on Southwest Baptist for the first time this year after playing three games there last season with two of them in the SBU Thanksgiving Classic.
THE COACHES
Shaun Vandiver is 14-24 in his second season at Emporia State. A first round draft pick by the Golden State Warriors in 1991 spent ten years as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level. As a player he led Hutchinson CC to the 1988 NJCAA National Championship before earning first-team All-Big 8 honors at Colorado. He is 0-2 against Southwest Baptist.
Jeff Guiot is 160-91 in his eighth season at Southwest Baptist and 214-124 in his 11th season overall. He is 11-4 against Emporia State.
LAST TIME OUT
Emporia State had a ten point lead with 3:30 left but were outscored 12-2 down the stretch to go to overtime before falling 79-76 to Ft. Hays State on Saturday. Five Hornets scored in double figures led by
Chris Sights with 16 points.
Paul Bunch and
Kaleb Wright each scored 13 points while
Terrence Moore added 11 and
Tre Boutilier chipped in ten.
ABOUT EMPORIA STATE
The Hornets are 5-6 on the season, 0-3 in the MIAA and have played one of the most difficult schedules in the nation. Their ten opponents have a combined record of 85-34 (.714) and if you were to take away their games against ESU, all of the Hornet opponents are at least .500 on the season.
ABOUT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST
The Bearcats are 3-9 on the season and 1-3 in the MIAA. Southwest Baptist leads the MIAA in made three-pointers with 8.3 per game, but are eighth in the league in three-point percentage. Nine different players have started at least three games and Preston Guiot is the only Bearcat to start all 12 games. He averages 11.4 points and 4.9 assists per game.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 44th meeting between the two teams with Southwest Baptist holding a 27-16 overall advantage. Emporia State has not won in Bolivar since a 71-69 win on January 3, 2004.
LAST TIME VS. THE BEARCATS
Emporia State shot .521 in the game, but could not overcome Southwest Baptist’s .628 shooting in a 77-65 loss. Both teams combined to hit 16 three pointers as each team shot above .400 from behind the arc. Emporia State jumped on top early hitting their first four shots and jumped out to a 17-10 lead at one point. The Bearcats would answer with a 7-0 run as ESU would only lead once more in the game a 20-17 before SBU took a 31-29 lead into the break. SBU shot .640 in the second half and .667 from the three point line to outpace the Hornets 46-36 in the second period. Troy Pierce led the Hornets scoring 16 points and Tola Lawal added 15 points.
UP NEXT
Emporia State travels to Kirksville, Mo. on Saturday, January 12 to take on Truman for the final time in MIAA play. Tip-off from Pershing Arena is set for 3:00 p.m.
