EMPORIA STATE MEN COME UP SHORT AT LEAGUE LEADING NORTHWEST MISSOURI

February 24, 2016- Emporia State battled back from a 15 point deficit and had a chance to send the game to overtime before falling 77-74 at #15 Northwest Missouri on Wednesday night in Maryville, Mo.
 
BIG HOLE
Northwest Missouri won the opening tip and was able to keep the ball for 1:12 thanks to two offensive rebounds before finally scoring.  They would take a 6-0 lead and went up 16-6 with 11:59 left in the half.  The Hornets cut the lead to five at 22-17 on a Josh Pederson dunk with 6:39 remaining.  The Bearcats then went on a 9-2 run to go up 31-19 with 3:37 remaining and would push the lead to 15 points at 38-23 with 42 seconds left in the half.
 
SECOND HALF RUN
The Hornets got a layup from Devin Spencer with 26 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 13 points and would then score the first eight points of the second half to pull within 38-33 with 17:58 left in the game.  Spanning halftime, Emporia State would hold Northwest scoreless for 5:06 before the Bearcats finally got on the board with 15:24 left in the game.  Another 8-0 run would give the Hornets their first lead of the game at 46-45 with 12:54 remaining on a Micah Swank three-pointer.
 
BACK AND FORTH
Over the next seven minutes there would be three lead changes and two ties, with neither team taking more than a one possession lead until Northwest went up by five points with 7:49 left.  Their lead would grow to 68-59 with 4:28 remaining when Emporia State went on an 11-2 run to pull within 71-70 on another Swank three-pointer with 1:49 left.  
 
FINAL TWO MINUTES
D'Vante Mosby answered Swank's three with a layup at the 1:24 mark to give the Bearcats a 73-70 lead.  Kevin Allen scored off a Terrence Moore assist with 1:02 remaining to make it 73-72.  Northwest's Justin Pitts hit a layup with 40.5 remaining to push the lead back to three points at 75-72.  Charles McKinney tipped in an Allen miss with 23.5 left to pull the Hornets back within one point.  Mosby then hit two free throws with 20.5 to give the Bearcats a 77-74 lead.  Emporia State called timeout with 18.3 seconds left to set up the final play.  Micah Swank was able to get a three-pointer from the corner that rimmed out and although Allen got the rebound, the Hornets did not have enough time for another three-pointer.
 
THE NUMBERS
Terrence Moore led Emporia State with 19 points and five assists while Kevin Allen had a near double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds.  They were joined in double figures by Micah Swank with 11 points.  The Hornets hit 28 of 57 field goal attempts and made eight three-pointers, but only connected on ten of 15 free throws.  The Bearcats were 24 of 47 from the field with three treys and went 26 of 28 from the charity stripe.
 
UP NEXT
Emporia State returns to White Auditorium for the final regular season game of the year against Washburn.  Tip-off for the Senior Day Turnpike Tussle is set for 3:30 p.m.