January 25, 2017-The Emporia State men saw their three game winning streak come to an end with a 66-58 loss at Central Missouri on Wednesday night.
Trailing 79-5, Emporia State went on a 11-0 run in just 1:24 of action to take a 16-9 lead with 11:21 remaining in the half. Jay Temaat hit a three-pointer to start and end the run. After a UCM timeout, the Mules got back to back three-pointers to pull within 16-15 and would eventually take a 26-22 lead with 5:37 left in the half. Brandon Hall would then score all seven points in a 7-2 Hornet run to give Emporia State a 29-28 lead at the break.
The game remained tight during the opening portion of the second half. There were four ties and three lead changes over the first 12 minutes of the second half with neither team taking more than a five point advantage. With the score tied at 43, the Mules went on a 7-0 run and took a 50-43 lead with 6:58 remaining. The Hornets cut the lead to two at 57-55 with 3:32 left on a layup by Hall and after a Mule turnover had a chance to tie or take the lead but Hall's missed. Central Missouri scored the next six points to go up 63-55 with 32 seconds left. A Jevon Taylor three-pointer cut the lead to five with 17.3 seconds left but the Mules hit three of four free throws in the final 14.5 seconds to secure the win.
Garin Vandiver led the Hornets with 14 points and five rebounds. He was joined in double figures by Hall with 11 and Josh Pedersen with ten points.
The Hornets are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Southwest Baptist. Tip-off from the Meyer Center is set for 3:30 p.m.
NOTES
Jay Temaat made two three-pointers and moved into a tie for fifth on Emporia State's all-time made three-pointer list with Troy Forbes (1995-99) and Taylor Euler (2009-13) with 150 made three-point field goals in his career.
