February 4, 2017-Brandon Hall hit a jumper with 18 seconds left and then forced a turnover as time expired to give Emporia State an 87-86 overtime victory against Neb.-Kearney on Saturday evening in White Auditorium.
The Hornets scored the first four points and led 7-3 with 17:16 left in the first half. The Lopers then went on an 8-2 run to take an 11-9 lead with 14:22 left in the half and the game was tied at 16-16 with 11:50 left. Emporia State then went on a 12-2 run to take a 28-19 lead with 9:02 left on a Jevon Taylor three-pointer. The Hornets would not trail the rest of the half and led by as many as ten before settling for a 41-33 lead at the break.
Emporia State maintained a lead of between six and ten points through the second media timeout of the second half. The Lopers used a 10-3 run to trim an eight point Hornet lead down to one with 6:51 left at 59-58. The Hornets would push the lead back up to six with 3:30 left on a Hall lay up to give Emporia State a 71-65 lead. An 8-0 run over the next two minutes gave UNK a 73-71 lead. Josh Pedersen then hit two free throws to tie the game with 1:12 left. The Hornets got the ball back with 56 seconds left after a missed shot by the Lopers. With the shot clock running down a Morton got a loose ball in the corner and was forced to throw up a shot that win in for three and gave Emporia State a 76-73 lead with 31.8 seconds left. Trey Lansman then converted an old fashioned three-point play with 25.7 seconds left to tie the game at 76. Hall had a chance to win it at the end of regulation but his shot from the elbow was blocked by Lansman to send the game to overtime.
Neb.-Kearney would take an 86-80 lead with 1:52 left in the overtime on two free throws from Sam Morris. The Hornets scored the final seven points of the game starting with a lay up by Garin Vandiver with 1:36 left. The Lopers missed a three-pointer with 1:12 left and the Hornets got the ball back. Taylor drove the lane and was fouled as he hit the layup. He converted the free throw to pull the Hornets within a point with 52 seconds left. Vandiver pulled the rebound on a another Loper miss with 34 seconds left. Hall again drove the lane and pulled up to hit the game winner with 18 seconds left. UNK got the ball to mid court and called timeout with 11.7 seconds left. Yashua tried to drive for the game winner but was forced into a turnover by Hall as time expired.
Hall finished with 23 points and six assists to go with two blocks, two steals and two rebounds. He was joined in double figures by Vandiver with 15 points and six rebounds while Taylor scored 13 points.
The Hornets are back in action on Wednesday, February 8 when they travel to #1 Northwest Missouri. Tip-off in Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo. is set for 7:30 p.m. Emporia State is the last MIAA team to beat the Bearcats, taking a 70-63 win in White Auditorium on Jan. 13, 2016.
