November 9, 2018- Emporia State Men's Basketball defeated #20 Southwest Minnesota State 83-74 on Friday in Marshall, Minn. The Hornets continue in the MIAA-NSIC Challenge on Saturday against Sioux Falls.
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First Half
After the Mustangs scored the opening point of the game, the Hornets took the 5-3 lead when Malik Hluchoweckyj knocked down a three during a 7-0 Hornets run. The Hornets held on to the lead for 2:11 before the Mustangs took the 10-9 lead with 16:10 on the clock. The Hornets trailed 15-14 heading to the first media timeout.
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Out of the timeout, teams exchanged quick buckets before going through a two-minute scoring drought. Michael Lee broke the drought with a jumper to give the Mustangs the 22-19 lead with 10:56 remaining in the half. The Hornets answered back with a layup from Justin Washington to come back within 22-21. The Mustangs hit a quick three and Sawyer Glick answered with a score of his own to take it to the media timeout as the Hornets trailed 25-23.
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The Mustangs came out of the timeout to make an 8-0 run and push their lead to 32-23. Over the next 6:30 the Hornets went on a 16-6 run to take the lead 39-38 over the Mustangs with 0:57 remaining. Ryan Bruggeman knocked down two free-throws with 0:26 on the clock to regain the lead for the Mustangs. The Hornets trailed 40-39 going into the half.
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Second Half
The Mustangs extended their lead to 46-39 in the first two minutes of the second half before Kooper Glick got the Hornets started with a three to make the score 46-42. In the first ten minutes of the half, the Hornets largest deficit came with 13:57 on the clock when they trailed 52-44. The Hornets fought back to make it a four-point game at 59-55 going in to the under ten media timeout.
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The Hornets trailed 64-57 with 8:17 left in the game before they fought their way back to take the lead at 68-67 with a Hluchoweckyj layup. The Mustangs tied the game at 68-68 with a free-throw from Ryan Bruggeman but the Hornets would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of time.
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Aaron McGee hit a layup with 4:28 remaining to give the Hornets the 70-68 lead. Bruggeman tied the score at 73-73 for the Mustangs with 3:08 remaining before the Hornets went on an 8-0 run to push their lead to 81-73. With the Mustangs trying to extend the game, Hluchoweckyj knocked down two free-throws in the final minute to give the Hornets the 83-74 win.
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The Hornets had five player score in double digits led by Malik Hluchoweckyj with 22 followed by Hassan Thomas who recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kooper Glick also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Sawyer Glick and Justin Washington rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points each.
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