December 20, 2021-Emporia State jumped out to an 17-3 lead and never trailed on the way to a 72-60 win over Rogers State in the final game before break. Along the way
Jumah'Ri Turner became the 25th member of the 1,000 point club at Emporia State and just the 12th Hornet to do so in three years or less.
Mayuom Buom got things started with an old-fashioned three-point play inside before
Tray Buchanan and
Jumah'Ri Turner hit back to back three-pointers from beyond the arc to put Emporia State up 9-2. Turner scored on a jumper from just outside the paint with 13:01 to give the Hornets a 17-3 lead. The Hillcats answered with a 9-2 run of their own to close within seven at 19-12 midway through the half.
Brooks Haddock nailed a three-pointer with 5:51 left to push the Emporia State lead back to 28-16 before Rogers State went on an 11-2 run to make it 30-27 with 2:18 left in the half. Two free throws from Turner with 19 seconds left would be the only scoring for the rest of the period as the Hornets took a 32-27 lead into the locker rooms.
A 7-4 run by the Hillcats capped by a pair of Joey Saracco free throws pulled RSU to within two points 2:13 into the second half. Buchanan jump started a 10-0 run with a three-pointer and pull up jumper off the fast break to give ESU a 41-34 lead just 45 seconds later. Turner then grabbed a rebound and went coast to coast to score his 1,000
th point as a Hornet with 15:55 left in the half to make it 43-34 and force Rogers State into a timeout.
Out of the timeout Buchanan made a steal and fed it ahead to Turner who found Buom for a dunk. He was fouled on the play and converted the free throw to give Emporia State a 46-34 lead with 15:29 left. Turner found
Gage McGuire in the corner for a three-pointer with 12:52 left as the Hornets took their biggest lead of the night at 55-40.
The Hillcats would slowly work the deficit down, getting it to five points at 65-50 with 2:02 left on a Saracco put back. On the next possession the Hornets worked the clock and Turner found
Mason Thiessen open in the corner and he buried a three-pointer to make it 68-60 with 1:34 remaining. Turner would then make four of four free throws in the final 1:05 to ice the win.
Tray Buchanan, the leading scorer in the nation entering the day, scored a game high 23 points while
Jumah'Ri Turner added 18 points and seven assists. They were joined in double figures by
Mayuom Buom with ten points. As a team Emporia State outrebounded Rogers State 35-22 while shooting 53.2% from the field and holding the Hillcats to just 42.6% shooting and a one of ten effort from the three-point arc in the second half.
Emporia State will take the next seven days off as part of the NCAA Division II Life in the Balance break. The next action for the Hornets will be on Saturday, January 1, 2022 when they travel to Lincoln. Tip-off from Jason Gymnasium in Jefferson City, Mo. is set for 3:30 p.m.
NOTES
With his 18 points
Jumah'Ri Turner now has 1,007 career points at Emporia State and moved past Jim Biggs (1,002 points from 1982-86) for 24
th on the Hornets all-time list.
Emporia State is 9-3 start is their best since opening the 2008-09 season 10-3.
