November 11, 2023 – Emporia State used a strong second half to pull away from Southwestern Oklahoma as the Hornets took down the Bulldogs 83-63 on Saturday afternoon.
The Hornets shot 58% in the second half while holding the Bulldogs under 35%.
Southwestern Oklahoma scored the first four points of the game before a pair of Hornet threes by
Darius Yohe and
Kaden Evans tied the game at 6-6 just over two minutes into the game. The first Emporia State lead came at the 17:22 mark as
Alijah Comithier scored on a jump shot.
Both teams traded buckets through the first ten minutes of the first half as the Bulldogs took a 20-19 lead into the second media timeout. After the lead changed hands on multiple occasions following the under-ten timeout, Emporia State reclaimed the lead they would retain for the remainder of the game on three from
Kaden Evans to give the Hornets a 32-21 lead with 4:25 left in the first half.
The Evans three kickstarted a quick 7-0 scoring run for Emporia State that lasted until the 2:49 mark. The Hornets would be outscored 6-5 over the final two minutes but maintained a 41-37 lead entering the locker room at the halftime break.
In the first half, the Bulldogs shot 50% while Emporia State shot 44.1% and 5-20 from beyond the arc.
Solomon Oraegbu led all players with 15 first-half points.
Emporia State started quickly following the halftime break as the Hornets forced a Bulldog turnover on the opening possession before
Kaden Evans knocked down his third triple of the game.
The quick start began an 18-6 Emporia State scoring run, highlighted by five points from both
Kaden Evans and
Owen Long, that lasted until the 13:06 mark of the second half.
With the Hornets leading 59-43, the Bulldogs scored seven of the next ten points, trimming the Emporia State advantage down to 62-50 with 11 minutes remaining. An
Atavian Butler basket followed by threes from
Owen Long and
Kaden Evans bumped the lead to 70-52 heading into the under-ten media timeout with 8:55 remaining in the game.
Following the media timeout,
Solomon Oraegbu scored another basket in the paint as the Hornet lead grew to 20 points.
Over the final eight-plus minutes, Emporia State continued to play stifling defense, allowing just three made field goals from the Bulldogs.
Oraegbu recorded the final basket for the Hornets with just under one minute remaining to cap off his 26-point performance as Emporia State defeated Southwestern Oklahoma 83-63.
Solomon Oraegbu scored 26 points on 11-19 shooting while adding four rebounds and two steals.
Owen Long and
Kaden Evans both scored in double figures with 19 and 16 points respectively. Both Long and Evans made four threes in the game for the Hornets.
Darius Yohe finished with seven points, seven rebounds and eight blocked shots.
Emporia State will return to action on Wednesday, November 15 as they take on Truman State. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. from White Auditorium.
