January 10, 2015-The Emporia State men did not score for the first 6:13 of the game and trailed by 16 points before mounting a furious comeback to force overtime and win 84-78 at #17 Central Missouri on Saturday night in Warrensburg, Mo. Terrence Moore led the way with 38 points, 31 of them after halftime.
The Mules jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Moore finally scored for the Hornets with 14:09 left in the first half. Central Missouri led by 16 at 28-12 with 5:08 left in the half before the Hornets went on a 12-4 run to cut the lead below ten with seven seconds left. Rakeem Dickerson hit a half court shot at the buzzer to give the Mules a 36-24 lead at the break.
The second half saw Central Missouri maintain a lead between nine and 14 points until Jay Temaat hit a three pointer with 5:46 left to cut the deficit to 57-50. The Mules pushed the lead back to ten at 65-55 with 2:57 left when the Hornets went on a 10-3 run to cut the lead to three with 21.4 seconds left on a Jevon Taylor three-pointer. The Mules turned the ball over with 19.9 seconds left to give the Hornets a last chance for overtime. In the final 14 seconds Taylor missed a three, Tyler Jordan got the rebound and got the ball to Moore who missed another three that Perryonte Smith rebounded and found Taylor in the cornerwho buried a trey with 2.1 left to send the game to overtime.
Emporia State scored the first five points of the overtime and never trailed in the extra frame. An old fashioned three-point play by Moore gave the Hornets a 76-69 lead with 2:28 left and two free throws frmo Moore made it 79-73 with 51.0 seconds remaining. The defending national champions then went on a 5-0 run to pull with a point at 79-78 with 28.2 left. On the inbounds, Moore got behind the Mules defense for a breakaway lay up and was intentionally fouled with 26.6 left. He made the hoop and the harm to give Emporia State a 82-78 lead and Taylor hit two free throws with 24.3 left after being fouled on the inbounds play for the final margin.
Moore was 13 of 19 from the field and 11 of 16 from the line for his 38 points and added three assists and two steals. Taylor finished with 20 points, going six of eight from the field and five of six from behind the arc. As a team the Hornets shot 71.4% from the field after halftime, including a four for five effort in the overtime.
Emporia State will continue their five game road trip on Wednesday when the travel to Pittsburg State. Tip-off from John Lance Arena is set for 7:30 p.m.
