November 14, 2015-The Emporia State men led by two with 54 seconds left, but Sioux Falls would score the final six points on the way to an 85-81 season opening loss for the Hornets at the MIAA-NSIC Challenge in Hays, Kan.
CLOSE GAME
In a game that saw six ties and 17 lead changes, the Hornets jumped out to an early 10-3 lead at the 16:49 mark capped by a pair of Micah Swank free throws following a technical foul on USF. After the technical, the Cougars went on a 14-2 run to take a 17-12 lead with 13:21 left. The game would remain within five points for each team the remainder of the half before the Hornets took a 40-39 lead into the lockerrooms.
SECOND HALF RUNS
Sioux Falls would take their biggest lead of the night at 55-49 with 13:26 left in the game following a 5-0 run. Josh Pedersen would go on a personal 5-0 run for the Hornets to knot the score at 67 with 8:15 remaining on a pair of free throws and a three-pointer. The Cougars would go back up by five with 3:01 left before the Hornets mounted their final run. Brandon Hall scored six straight points, the last on a three-pointer with 1:07 left that gave Emporia State an 80-79 lead. Terrence Moore would hit one of two free throws with 54.7 seconds left to push the Hornet lead to two points.
FINAL MINUTE
Jordan Stotts gave the Cougars an 82-81 lead with 39 seconds left on a three pointer. Hall missed a layup with 30 seconds left that would have tied the game and the Hornets were forced to foul. Daniel Hurtt hit one of two charities with 25 seconds left to keep the game within a bucket. Moore missed a layup but got his own rebound with nine seconds left as the Hornets called timeout down by two. Josh Oswald had another shot to tie it but his shot missed and Tom Aase got the rebound and hit two free throws with four seconds left for the final score.
THE NUMBERS
Terrence Moore led Emporia State with 21 points and added six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Brandon Hall had 17 points and Josh Oswald had a double double with 11 points and ten rebounds in their Hornet debuts. They were joined in double figures by Jay Temaat with 11 points.
UP NEXT
The Hornets are right back in action on Sunday afternoon when they take on Southwest Minnesota State at 2:00 p.m. in Hays, Kan.
