December 17, 2016 - Emporia State fell 69-58 to Lincoln in White Auditorium Saturday night to fall to 4-7 on the season and 1-2 in the MIAA. The Hornets trailed by just one at half, but a ten point advantage in the second half gave the Blue Tigers the edge they needed to win.
BATTLING BACK-AND-FORTH
Lincoln got off to a quick start, scoring the first four points in the first minute of the game. The Hornets jumped back in it to trail 6-5 with 17:12 left in the first half after a jumper from Brandon Hall. Emporia State took their first lead of the game, 9-6 at the 15:22 mark, after back-to-back shots from Hall, assisted by Jaylen Lowe and Brian Morton. A traditional three point play from the Blue Tigers tied the game 9-9 with 14:57 remaining. After a dry spell from both teams that lasted over two minutes of play, a layup from Garin Vandiver assisted by Hall gave the Hornets an 11-9 edge with 12:48 to play in the first. Lincoln converted on one of two free throws to close the gap 11-10 with 12:26 in the first. Another nearly two minutes of no scoring allowed Emporia State to stay in the lead when Darrius Spencer laid it in to give Lincoln a 12-11 lead. Josh Pederson found an open lane and slammed it home with an assist from Jay Temaat to regain the lead 13-12 with 10:23 left in the first half. The Hornets and Blue Tigers went another two minutes without scoring when Lincoln took a four point lead at 17-13, their largest since the start of the game, with 7:31 to go. Emporia State then went on an 11-1 run spanning about two and a half minutes, giving them their biggest lead yet at 24-18 with 4:30 left. Lincoln took a big momentum lead when Jaylon Smith converted a four point play to put them up 27-24 with 2:22 remaining. The Hornets scored four of the last six points of the half to trail 29-28. Hall led all players at the half with 12 points. Emporia State shot 42.9% in the first half compared to Lincon's 30.3% from the field.
BLUE TIGERS PULL AWAY
A Pederson layup assisted by Hall 30 seconds into the second half followed by a Hall jumper gave Emporia State the lead 32-29 at the 18:57 mark. Anthony Virdure tied the game with a three pointer before Lincoln took a lead they would not give up the rest of the game. The Hornets would get within eight in the final minute but could not get any closer as the Blue Tiger's won 69-58. Lincoln took advantage of Emporia State's turnovers in the second half, having 15 points off turnovers.
BY THE NUMBERS
Hall led all players with 20 points, shooting nine for 16 from the field and racking on five assists. Tyler Jordan followed with 13 points shooting six for eight from the stripe. Vandiver led all players with eight rebounds, three offensive, and was followed by Pederson with six rebounds. Vandiver also had nine points. The Hornets shot 14 for 21 from the line and 42.6% from the field for the night.
UP NEXT
The Hornets will host Lindenwood on Monday, December 19 at 7:30 p.m. to continue MIAA action.
