#20 Emporia State Men's Basketball opens home slate with MIAA-GAC Challenge

Men's Basketball | 11/9/2023 12:36:00 PM

Games #3-4
#20 Emporia State Hornets (1-1, 0-0 MIAA)
vs. Arkansas Tech WonderBoys (0-0, 0-0 GAC)
Friday, November 10, 2023 • 5:30 p.m. • Emporia, Kan. • W.L. White Auditorium
Series Record: Series Tied 3-3 Last Meeting: ESU 67, ATU 57 (Nov. 11, 2022)   
Radio: KFFX 104.9FM  Internet Audio: kvoe.com
vs. Southwestern Oklahoma Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 GAC)
Friday, November 11, 2023 • 3:30 p.m. • Emporia, Kan. • W.L. White Auditorium
Series Record: ESU leads 5-2 Last Meeting: ESU 88, SWOSU 65 (Nov. 12, 2022)   
Radio: KVOE 101.7FM  Internet Audio: kvoe.com
Television: None Internet Video: themiaanetwork.com/esuhornets
Live Stats | Ticket Info | Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: Truman  • Wed., Nov, 15, 2023 • 6:30 p.m.
Emporia, Kan. • W.L. White Auditorium

HOME OPENING CHALLENGE
The #20 Hornets begin the home portion of the season by playing host to the MIAA-GAC Challenge with the Lady Hornets. Emporia State will play Arkansas Tech and Southwestern Oklahoma in the fourth year of a four year commitment for the conference challenge.

LAST TIME OUT
Playing without two potential starters, the #20 Hornets split two games at the SCB Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla. Emporia State fell 78-73 to #8 UNC-Pembroke despite leading for over half the game. The Hornets finished their stay in the Sunshine State with a 72-59 win over Virginia Union on Sunday night.  Alijah Comithier was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Owen Long averaged 17.5 points and hit eight three-pointers over the weekend in Florida.

THE COACHES
Craig Doty is 79-65 in his sixth season at Emporia State. In his 12th season as a head coach at the D2, NAIA, and NJCAA level he is 241-115 with three national championships. He was 49-22 in two year at Graceland, and won the 2018 NAIA National Championship. Doty spent four years at Rock Valley College winning two NJCAA D-III national championships to finish with a 113-28 record. He is 1-2 against Arkansas Tech and 2-1 against Southwestern Oklahoma.
Mark Downey is 110-87 in his eighth year at Ark. Tech and 276-193 in his 16th year as a head coach. He is 3-1 against Emporia State at ATU and was 4-3 against the Hornets while at Northeastern State.
Brett Weiberg is in his first year at Southwestern Oklahoma and is 47-93 in his sixth season as a head coach. He went 2-3 against the Hornets while at Missouri Western.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 1-1 on the season. Alijah Comithier is averaging a team best 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Owen Long is averaging 17.5 points and 4.0 made three-pointers a game. Kaden Evans is averaging 4.5 assists and 3.0 steals per game.

ABOUT THE WONDER BOYS
The Wonder Boys were picked second in the GAC Preseason poll. Taelon Peter, a Second-Team All-GAC pick returns after averaging 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series with Arkansas Tech is tied 3-3.
LAST TIME VS ARKANSAS TECH
Emporia State put four players in double figures as they opened the season with a 67-57 win over Arkansas Tech in Weatherford, Okla. Mayuom Buom had 18 points on seven of eight shooting and three blocked shots.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
Southwestern Oklahoma was tabbed for 11th in the GAC Preseason Poll. Former Hornet Ben Smith is their leading returning scorer at 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State leads the all-time series with Southwestern Oklahoma 5-2.
LAST TIME VS SWOSU
Emporia State used an 11-0 run late in the first half to take control on the way to an 88-65 win at Southwestern Oklahoma in Weatherford, Okla. Owen Long led all scorers with 23 points while Alijah Comithier added 20 points.

UP NEXT
The #20 Hornets continue their eight game homestand on Wednesday, November 15 when they play host to Truman. Tip from White Auditorium is set for 6:30 p.m.

DOTY MAGIC
Three-time National Champion head coach Craig Doty is in his sixth season as head coach at Emporia State. He is 241-115 in his 12th year at the NCAA D2, NAIA and NJCAA levels, including an 124-82 mark in conference play. Doty is 128-87 as a head coach at four year schools with a 79-65 record since taking over for the Hornets.
He is 80-38 (.678) in games played in February and March with a 31-9 (.775) record in the post-season. Four of those nine post season losses were to the eventual national champion.
Doty led Rock Valley College and Graceland University to national prominence earlier in his career. In just two seasons at Graceland, Doty's program had a 49-22 record and won the 2018 NAIA Division I National Championship in the school's first trip to the national tournament at Kansas City's historic Municipal Auditorium. The Yellowjackets started the 2017-18 season 10-8 and ended the year winning 19 of their final 21 games. Along the way Doty earned NAIA National Coach of the Year, HoopDirt.com NAIA National Coach of the Year, and the 2018 Don Meyer Award. Doty's programs at Rock Valley College won NJCAA Division III National titles in 2014 and 2016 while his 2015 squad came up just short finishing National Runner-up.

LAST THREE YEARS
For the first time in school history Emporia State has recorded three straight years with at least a .500 record in MIAA play. Starting in 2020-21 the Hornets have gone 41-25 (.621) in MIAA play with a 55-31 (.640) overall record.

HORNETS IN THE POST SEASON
Last year was Emporia State's third trip to the NCAA Tournament in 32 years as a member of the NCAA Division II. The Hornets first NCAA Tournament game was an 85-81 loss to Drury in Stephenville, Texas on March 13, 2004.  Their next appearance was a 72-66 loss to Southeastern Oklahoma on March 10, 2007.  Prior to joining the NCAA, Emporia State made ten trips to Kansas City for the NAIA National Tournament and compiled a record of 13-12 with a pair of national semifinal appearances. The finished fourth in 1947 and again in 1964.

IN THE RANKINGS
Emporia State is ranked #20 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Preseason National Poll The Hornets received votes in the final NABC National Poll last season, the 11th time the received votes in the season. Earlier ESU had a string of five straight weeks being ranked, their longest streak since a ten week span during the 2006-07 season. Last year was the first since the 2007-08 season Emporia State cracked the Top 25. The Hornets spent 22 weeks in the NABC Top 25 from 2003-08, getting as high as seventh in the nation on three different occasions.  In two computerized ratings systems the Hornets are are ranked #31 in the Massey Ratings and #22 in the Wilson ratings system.

CLOSERS
The Hornets have won 22 of their last 23 games when leading at the 5:00 minute mark of the second half. Emporia State went 21-1 last season when leading at the 5:00 mark of the second half. Part of that is due to the Hornets shooting 78.7% as a team from the free throw line in the final five minutes and overtime of games last year.

GIVE ME 20
The Hornets won 20 games in back to back seasons for the first time since 1987-90. Emporia State won 20 games for the first time since the 2007 season when they finished the year 21-8 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. This was the fourth time the Hornets have won 20 games as a member of the NCAA and the 12th time in school history. Emporia State had not won 20 games in back to back years since reaching the 20 win mark in three straight seasons from 1987-90. ESU won at least 20 games in five out of six seasons from 1985-90. Emporia State has won at least ten games in conference play 11 times over the last 33 seasons.

MORE BALANCE, STILL A 1-2 PUNCH
Last year Owen Long led Emporia State at 17.2 points per game and Alijah Comithier averaged 14.6 points per game.  A total of ten different Hornets scored in double figures at least once last season with nine having multiple games of at least ten points.
The duo of Tray Buchanan and Jumah'Ri Turner was the top scoring back court in the nation in 2021-22. Buchanan led the nation in scoring at 25.6 points per game while Turner averaged 19.8 to rank third in the MIAA. Their combined 45.4 points per game was the top average in NCAA Division II for a pair of guards.  
THREE TIMES 1,000
Three Hornets have scored at least 1,000 points in their NCAA Division II careers. Alijah Comithier has scored 1,613 points in 105 total games to lead all active MIAA players. Owen Long has scored 1,335 points in 111 total games while Solomon Oraegbu has scored 1,049 points in 81 games.

HOT START
Last year the Hornets opened the season 7-0 for the first time since going 16-0 to open the 2006-07 season.  It is the tenth time in 119 seasons of Emporia State basketball that the Hornets have opened the year 7-0 and the first time at least six of the wins have come against D2 teams.

CENTURY MARK
Emporia State's 110-66 win over Saint Mary marked the 103rd time the Hornets have cracked the century mark in their history.  They have reached 100 points seven times in 144 games under Coach Doty, matching their total for the previous eight seasons combined.  
The Hornets scored at least 100 points 60 times under coach Ron Slaymaker (827 total games in 28 seasons), 26 times under David Moe (288 games in 10 seasons), five times under Shaun Vandiver (199 games in seven seasons), three times under Gus Fish (602 games in 25 seasons) and once under Marc Comstock (82 games in three seasons).

FRIENDLY CONFINES
The Hornets are 422-198 (.681) since 1979 in White Auditorium. Emporia State has won 206 of their last 299 games (.689) in White Auditorium dating back to the 2002-03 season. In the last 35 years, they have twice had home court winning streaks of at least 20 games. The first was 23 games from 1985-87 followed by a school record 25 game streak from February 12, 2003-January 1, 2005.  They have posted home winning seasons in 18 of the last 20 seasons.

HORNETS RANK IN NATION IN ATTENDANCE
In 14 home games this year the Hornets averaged 1,382 fans per game to rank eighth in the nation. Emporia State men's basketball fans helped the Hornets rank in the top ten in attendance among the over 300 NCAA Division II basketball playing schools last season. The #7 national ranking continued a string of 19 straight years, not counting COVID, ranking in the top 25 in attendance for Emporia State. The Hornets drew 19,627 total fans for an average of 1,402 fans to their 14 home games at Slaymaker Court in White Auditorium during the 2021-22 season to rank seventh nationally.   Emporia State had a season high 2,865 for their game against Washburn on February 26 on Senior Day.   Emporia State outdrew 123 NCAA Division I schools in total attendance during the 2021-22 school year including eight teams that made the NCAA Tournament. Within the Division II ranks, the Hornets outdrew 60 of the 64 teams that were selected for the NCAA Tournament, including six of the eight #1 seeds and six of the teams that made the Elite Eight.
The Hornets were among six MIAA teams in the top 15 nationally. As a conference the MIAA drew 210,078 fans to 203 games to lead all Division II conference in average attendance at 1,035 fans per game. It is the 13th straight year the MIAA has led the nation in average attendance. The MIAA's total attendance was better than eight NCAA Division I conferences. The Central Region had a total of eight teams ranked in the top 25 as two teams from the NSIC were on the list as well. All three conferences within the Central Region were ranked in the top ten nationally.

REGIONALLY SPEAKING
The NCAA Central Region is made up of teams in the MIAA, Northern Sun and Great American Conferences. Emporia State was one of three MIAA teams in the regional field last year, tying the NSIC for the most representatives in Maryville. The MIAA went 71-36 (.664) mark in non-conference competition and every team in the Association had an opponents winning percentage of over .500 on the season. The NSIC was 77-40 (.658) and the GAC went 50-37 (.575) against outside competition.

LISTEN & WATCH LIVE
Video webcasts for all of Emporia State's regular season home games are available on a pay per view basis from the MIAA Network. Content is available live and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing after each event at www.themiaanetwork.com. Audio of all Emporia State games are available on KFFX 104.9FM and at www.kvoe.com with Blake Cripps in his first year on the call. KFFX is in their 36th straight year as the radio home of Hornet Athletics, the longest active streak between a commercial station and an MIAA school. All games will also be available on the internet at www.kvoe.com/listen.

TURNING PRO
Emporia State's Tray Buchanan and Brenden Van Dyke both signed professional contracts following the 2021-22 season, giving the Hornets six professional players in the last four seasons. Buchanan signed with AEL-Limassol in Limassol, Cyprus while Van Dyke signed with CD Agulia San Miguel in El Salvador
Julius Jackson became the fourth Hornet men's basketball player to sign professionally following the 2018-19 season when he signed a professional contract with Raiders Basket Jarvenpaa in Finland. Hassan Thomas signed with Sampaense Basket of Portugal Proliga while Malik Hluchoweckyj signed with KK Bratunac of the Bosnia BiH Liga also signed pro contracts overseas while Kooper Glick played with the Washington Generals - the regular opponent of the Harlem Globetrotters. It is the first time in school history the Hornets  had four players from the same class sign to play professionally in the same year.

ON THE COURT
The court at William L. White Auditorium was formally named Ron Slaymaker Court at half-time of the Hornets win over Washburn on Feb. 28, 2014 after the City of Emporia approved a proclamation at their Feb. 20, 2014  city commission meeting.

AND IN THE RAFTERS
•Dale Cushinberry (1966-69) - Cushinberry was an All-American for Emporia State and became the first Hornet with 1,000 points and 700 rebounds.
•Wilbur Reeser (1944-48) - Reeser was named an NAIB All-American and was the Hornets leading scorer as the won a conference championship in 1948.
•Ron Slaymaker (Player 1954-60, Coach 1970-98) - As a player Slaymaker was named All-Conference and All-American during the 1957-58 season. As a coach he won an ESU leading 462 games from 1970-98.
•Jim Fraley (1956-60) - Fraley was the school's all-time leading scorer (1,509) until Brian Robinson broke his record in 1985. He was named Second-team NAIA All-American.
•Doug Glaysher (1960-64) - Glaysher was named an All-American after leading the Hornets to the NAIA National Semi-finals in 1964. He graduated as the second leading scorer in ESU history.
•Brian Robinson (1984-86) - Robinson was named a first team All-American in both his junior and senior season. He is the ESU all-time leading scorer with 2,533 career points.