November 15, 2015-Emporia State cut a ten point lead down to three but could not complete the comeback in an 80-75 loss to Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday afternoon in Hays, Kan.
PROMISING START
The Hornets jumped out to a 6-0 lead off six points from senior guards Terrence Moore and Micah Swank in the first 1:56 of the game. Moore started things with a layup with 1926 left and then stole the ball and fed Swank who hit one of two free throws with 18:41 left. Moore finished the opening run by grabbing a defensive rebound and then hitting a three off an assist from Swank with 18:04 left in the half.
FIRST HALF RUNS
Southwest Minnesota State took a ten point lead at 25-15 with 6:34 left to cap a 19-6 run. Emporia State would trail by as many as 13 in the first half before a 9-2 run of their own cut the lead to six with 32 seconds left in the opening period. The Mustangs got a layup with two seconds left to take a 39-31 lead into the break.
COMEBACK
Emporia State trailed 69-59 with 5:06 left before getting back to back three-pointers from Jevon Taylor and Moore and a free throw from Jay Temaat to cut the lead to three with 3:30 remaining. After SMSU went up by eight with 2:17 left, Moore hit a free throw and Brandon Hall buried a three-pointer to make it 74-70 with 1:15 left. The Mustangs led 78-72 following a pair of free throws with ten seconds left and Moore cut the lead to three with a made trey with three seconds remaining. Emporia State was able to get a foul but Mitch Weg hit both free throws to give Southwest Minnesota the win by a final score of 80-75.
THE NUMBERS
Freshman Brandon Hall led Emporia State with 23 points while Terrence Moore added 22 points. Josh Oswald was the only other Hornet in double figures finishing with ten points and seven rebounds.
UP NEXT
Emporia State will take on #10 Wichita State on Saturday, November 21 in a game that will be a regular season contest for the Shockers and an exhibition for the Hornets. Tip-off in Koch Arena is set for 2:00 p.m.
