February 24, 2018-Playing his final game of the season on his birthday Brandon Hall scored 18 points to become the 25
th Hornet to reach 1,000 points but it was not enough in Emporia State's 76-73 loss at Central Oklahoma on Saturday.
Both teams came out sluggish with the first points coming on a Brian Morton free throw for Emporia State with 17:27 left in the first half and Central Oklahoma would have a 10-8 lead at the first media timeout. The Bronchos took a 16-10 lead with 9:40 left but the Hornets answered with a 9-4 run and cut the lead to one point at the 5:24 mark on a Garin Vandiver three-pointer. A pair of Jordan Hemphill free throws with 16.9 seconds left gave UCO a 25-24 lead but Brandon Hall nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Hornets to the locker room up 27-25.
Emporia State took their biggest lead of the night at 41-36 with 12:47 left on two Malik Hluchoweckyj free throws as the first ten minutes of the second half saw five ties and five lead changes. Central Oklahoma would use a 7-0 run to turn a 46-45 Hornet lead into a 52-46 Broncho lead with 8:36 left. They would grow the lead to nine points at 61-52 with 4:56 left before the Hornets started another comeback.
Brian Morton scored eight points during a 13-4 run, including back to back three-pointers that tied the game at 65 with 2:30 left. After a pair of Marqueese Grayson free throws, Brandon Hall found Stephaun Limuel for a back door dunk to tie the game at 67 with 1:57 left. Jake Hammond hit one of two free throws with 1:42 remaining to put UCO up 68-67 and Garin Vandiver answered with a three-pointer to give Emporia State a 70-68 lead. Hemphill scored with 1:07 remaining to tie the game and Limuel answered with a layup inside to give the Hornets a 72-70 lead with 44.5 seconds left.
Grayson scored and was fouled for UCO with 30.7 left and his old fashioned three-point play gave the Bronchos a 73-72 lead. Hall missed on a drive with about eight seconds left and the Hornets were forced to foul. Hemphill hit both free throws with 6.0 seconds left to make it 75-72. Up three the Bronchos fouled Hall with 3.8 seconds left. He hit the first and missed the second on purpose but Corbin Byford grabbed the rebound for UCO. He his one of two free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining and Morton's half court shot missed as Emporia State lost a game on the last possession for the eighth time this year.
Garin Vandiver had a career high 20 points on seven of 11 shooting including a three of four effort from the three-point line. Brandon Hall had 18 points and five assists while Stephaun Limuel and Brian Morton each scored 11 points.
The Hornets end the season 9-19 with 14 of the 19 misses coming by less than five points or in overtime.
NOTES
Brandon Hall finishes his junior year with 1013 points and is ranked 23
rd on the Hornets all-time list.
