January 15, 2022-
Tray Buchanan and
Jumah'Ri Turner combined for 60 points for Emporia State in an 85-72 victory over Missouri Southern in Joplin, Mo. It is the seventh straight win for the Hornets as they improve to 14-3 overall and 9-2 in the MIAA.
Emporia State led 16-13 on a three-pointer from Turner with 13:00 left for their largest lead of the first half. The Lions then went on a 13-3 run to take a 26-19 lead with 7:47 left and led by eight with 2:15 to go until the half. The Hornets scored seven points in the final 2:01 to pull within 41-40 at the break.
Stan Scott opened the scoring for Missouri Southern in the second half with a lay-up just 14 seconds in. Emporia State responded with a 6-0 run to take the lead for good.
Peyton Rogers-Schmidt scored inside to start the run while Buchanan and Turner combined to hit four straight free throws as the Hornets took a 46-43 lead with 17:14 left. Ndongo Ndaw stopped the scoreless streak for the Lions with a bucket inside but the Hornets responded with four more to make it a 10-2 run and go up 50-45 with 14:28 left.
Lawson Jenkins hit two free throws with 7:21 left to pull the Lions within 66-64. Buchanan answered with a three-pointer on the next possession followed by a fast break layup from Turner that made it a 71-64 game with 5:44 left. Southern would not get closer than five points the rest of the way. Buchanan scored the final 13 points for Emporia State as he finished with 38 points including a 15 of 15 effort from the free throw line.
In addition to Buchanan's 38 points, Turner scored 22 and
Brenden Van Dyke added ten points for the Hornets.
Kaden Evans had eight rebounds while
Peyton Rogers-Schmidt had seven boards, three blocks and three assists.
Emporia State is back in action on Saturday, January 22 when they travel to Topeka to take on Washburn. Tip-off from Lee Arena is set for 3:30 p.m.
NOTES:
Buchanan has now scored at least 20 points in 13 straight games, the longest streak for a Hornet since 1988-89.
It was Buchanan's fifth 30 point game of the season.
Turner now has 1,092 points and has passed DeAndre Townsend (1,076 points from 2006-08) to move into 21
st on the Emporia State all-time scoring list.
The seven straight wins are the most by a Hornet team in MIAA play since winning seven straight to open MIAA play in 2006-07.
