January 22, 2017-Garin Vandiver had career highs of 18 points and 18 rebounds as Emporia State won their third straight game with a 92-85 win over Missouri Southern on Sunday afternoon in White Auditorium.
The Hornets scored the first five points of the game and led 12-5 with 12:49 left in the half. The Lions used a 10-0 run to take a 17-14 lead with 9:13 left. They would build a six point lead at 30-24 with 5:16 left on a CJ Carr three-pointer. The Hornets responded with a 12-2 run of their own to go up 36-32 on a Jay Temaat three-pointer with 2:21 left in the half. Temaat's fourth triple of the half gave Emporia State a 39-34 lead with 52 seconds left in the half before Missouri Southern scored the final five points of the half to forge a 39-39 tie at the break.
Emporia State scored the first four points of the second half and had a 47-45 advantage with 15:02 remaining when the Lions went on a 6-0 run to take a 51-47 lead with 13:36 left. Jevon Taylor then went on a personal 7-0 run to give the Hornets the lead for good. Emporia State would take their biggest lead of the night at 85-73 with 2:19 left on another three-pointer from Taylor. Trailing by 12 with 1:46 left the Lions scored five points in five seconds thanks to a pair of Kinzer Lambert free throws, a Hornet turnover and a three-pointer from Elyjah Clark to make it 85-78 with 1:41 left.Â
Brandon Hall hit one of two free throws with 1:14 remaining to give the Hornets an eight point lead. Vince Fritz hit a free throw with 1:07 left and hit two more with 1:06 left when was fouled on the rebound of his second miss to make it 86-81. That was as close as the Lions would get as Emporia State hit six of eight free throws in the final 1:01 to seal the win.
Vandiver's 18 points and 18 rebounds led five Hornets in double figures. Taylor and Temaat both had season highs with 18 and 17 points respectively while Tyler Jordan added 13 and Stephaun Limuel scored 12 points. The Hornets shot a season high .552 from the field and connected on nine of 15 three-pointers.Â
The Hornets will travel to Warrensburg, Mo. on Wednesday to take on Central Missouri in a battle for second place in the MIAA. Both teams are 6-3 in conference action and tied with Central Oklahoma for second behind league leading Northwest Missouri. Tip-off at the UCM Multipurpose Building is set for 7:30 p.m.
NOTES
Vandiver's 18 rebounds are the most by a Hornet since Scott Harkness had 18 against Northwest Missouri in the 1996-97 season.
