February 8, 2020-Playing without leading scorer
Jumah'Ri Turner due to a death in the family, Emporia State was within a point of #19 Missouri Southern midway through the second half before falling 71-58 in White Auditorium on Saturday.
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All five starters scored for Emporia State as they got out to an 11-4 lead with 13:58 left in the first half. Missouri Southern got three straight three pointers to tie the game at 16 with 9:23 remaining. The Lions had a 20-19 lead with 6:59 left in the half when the Hornets went on a 7-0 run to take a 26-20 lead three minutes later on a
Justin Williams free throw. Southern retook a five point lead with 35 seconds left but
Zac Owens scored five points in the final ten seconds, the last three of them on a buzzer beating trey to tie the game at 33 going to the half.
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Neither team took more than a three point lead in the first nine minutes of the second half. Emporia State led 46-45 on a
Devin Rottweiler layup with 13:26 left when Southern went on a 10-2 run to take the lead for good. Williams scored on a break away layup off a pass from
Tyreek Robinson to get the Hornets within 57-52 with 8:08 left but the Lions responded with a 7-1 run to take their biggest lead up to that point at 64-53. The teams traded scores until Kinzer Lambert got the last bucket with 19 seconds left for the final score of 71-58.
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Zac Owens was the only Hornet in double figures with 18 points, but all nine players that suited up scored.Â
Gage McGuire added eight points and a career high ten rebounds.Â
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Emporia State will begin a four game road trip on Thursday, February 13 at Rogers State. Tip-off from the Claremore Expo Center is set for 7:30 p.m.
NOTES
Counting today's missed game by Turner, the Hornets have lost 60 games -
Aaron McGee (22 - Achilles injury),
Marquis McCray (22 - ankle injury),
Brenden Van Dyke (8 -knee injury),
Justin Williams (4 - leg injury),
Dallas Bailey (3 - foot),
Jumah'Ri Turner (1 - death in family) - to injury or personal problems.
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