January 8, 2015-The Emporia State men were outscored 8-4 over the final 4:45 in a 54-50 loss at Missouri Western on Thursday night in St. Joseph, Mo.
Sporting a revamped starting line up, the Hornets jumped out to a 12-3 lead to start the game. The Griffons answered with a 12-2 run of their own to take a 15-14 lead with 10:53 left in the half. From that point on there would be five ties and eight lead changes on the night. Emporia State closed the half on a 9-2 run over the final 5:55 to take a six point lead into the break.
The Hornets led 29-23 with 18:07 left when the Griffons went on a 6-0 run to tie the score on a pair of Hans Thum free throws with 15:13 remaining. Emporia retook a five point lead at 36-31 with 11:49 left when Cortez Colbert went on a personal 15-5 run. When he was done Missouri Western had a 46-41 lead with 5:49 left in the game.
Terrence Moore hit a pair of free throws following a technical foul on the Griffon bench with 4:45 left and Micah Swank hit a three pointer to tie the score at 46 with 4:29 remaining. Neither team would score until a three-pointer by the Griffs Cole Clearman broke the tie at the 1:48 mark. Missouri Western would then hit five of six free throws in the final 26.9 seconds to seal the win.
Terrence Moore led Emporia State with 17 points and was the only Hornet in double figures.Â
Emporia State travels to defending national champion Central Missouri on Saturday for their next action. Tip-off from the Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg, Mo. is set for 3:30 p.m.
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