#21 Emporia State Men's Basketball wins 1500th game in program history

December 9, 2023-For the first time since 2014 three Hornets each scored over 20 points as #21 Emporia State defeated Northeastern State 89-77 in White Auditorium. It was their ninth straight win and the 1,500^th in school history.
 
The Hornets jumped out to an 11-4 lead only to see the RiverHawks score the next seven points to tie the game at 11 with 14:18 left. In the first half. Solomon Oraegbu scored the final six points of a 12-4 by ESU to give the Hornets a 23-15 lead with 10:49 left in the half.  Northeastern State tied the game at 25 with 6:19 left and would take their first lead of the game on a Trey Quartlebaum three-pointer with 2:07 left to make it 37-36. ESU ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 42-37 lead into the break. 
 
The RiverHawks would retake the lead at 46-45 with 16:16 left in the game on a Keon Edwards three-pointer.  Oraegbu tied the game with one of two free throws at the 15:07 mark and then scored on a drive to the hoop with 14:14 remaining to give the Hornets the lead for good.  Alijah Comithier scored the first six points of a 9-1 run that gave Emporia State a 65-52 lead with 9:32 left. The lead would not drop below double digits the rest of the night and reached 14 point on four occasions before the final score of 89-77.
 
Alijah Comithier scored a game high 28 points while Solomon Oraegbu added 25 points for Emporia State.  Owen Long had 21 points, six rebounds and six assists with two steals for the Hornets.
 
The #21 Hornets will be back in action on Thursday, December 14 when they travel to Missouri Western.  Tip-off from the Civic Arena in downtown St. Joseph, Mo. is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
NOTES:
This was the first time Emporia State has had three players with 20 points in a game since Kaleb Wright (30), Paul Bunch (22) and Terrence Moore (20) did it in a 99-92 overtime loss at Fort Hays State on January 30, 2014.
This was the first time Emporia State has had three players with at least 20 points in a non-overtime game since Tyrell Sledge (36), Leroy Dawson (22) and Shawn Herrman (21) did it in a 115-75 win over Montana State-Billings on Jan. 22, 2006.
Emporia State became just the 16^th school in NCAA Division II history with 1500 all-time wins.  The Hornets are 1500-1243 in 118 seasons of competition.
Already playing without Peyton Rogers-Schmidt and Atavian Butler, the Hornets played the final 32:18 without Drew Tennial, who left the game with a groin injury with 12:18 left in the first half.