November 29, 2014-Emporia State shot a blistering 61.1% from the field in the second half to overcome a ten point deficit in a 68-63 win at West Texas A&M on Saturday night in Canyon, Texas.
The Hornets fell behind 10-4 to start the game and never led in the opening 20 minutes. The Buffaloes took a ten point lead at 34-24 with 1:30 left in the half but a Jay Temaat three at the buzzer closed the gap to seven points.
West Texas led 41-31 with 15:31 left in the game when Emporia State started to comeback. A 13-3 run tied the score with 11:20 remaining and there would be three more ties and five lead changes the rest of the way. The Hornets took their first lead at 57-56 on a McWisdom Badejo lay-up with 4:49 left. Tournament MVP Terrence Moore scored the next four points for Emporia State to give the Hornets a 61-59 lead with 2:29 remaining. WT scored the next four points to go up 63-61 on a David Chavlovich jumper with 46 seconds left. It would be the last points of the game for the Buffaloes as Jevon Taylor buried a three-pointer with 35.7 left to give the Hornets a 64-63 lead. Josh Pedersen hit a pair of free throws with five seconds left before Moore stole the inbounds pass and laid it in for the final score of 68-63.
Moore lead all scorers with 22 points and added a team high six rebounds and four assists. He was joined in double figures by Jevon Taylor with 14 points on four of five shooting from the field. Temaat had eight points and five rebounds to go with last night's 15 points to earn All-Tournament team honors with Moore.
The Hornets will make their White Auditorium debut on Wednesday night against Northwest Missouri. Tip-off for the MIAA opener from Slaymaker Court is set for 7:30 p.m.
