December 16, 2023 – The Emporia State men fell on the road Saturday afternoon against Northwest Missouri 63-59, despite shooting 51.2% from the floor.
Emporia State fell behind 6-0 and 9-2 within the first two minutes of the game as Northwest Missouri made their first four field goal attempts.
Solomon Oraegbu made four consecutive free throws before a field goal from
Owen Long cut the Bearcat lead to 9-6 at the 17:10 mark in the first half.
Northwest Missouri was able to keep Emporia State at a distance for much of the first half as they held a 24-15 lead, their largest lead of the game, with 8:42 remaining in the half.
The Hornets were able to close the gap with an 8-0 scoring that lasted 2:35 and was capped off by a dunk from
Cael McGee at the 6:07 mark to trim the deficit to 24-23.
Emporia State was unable to climb in front as Northwest Missouri outscored the Hornets 11-5 over the final six minutes of the half to take a 35-28 lead into the halftime break.
In the first half, the Hornets shot 8-19 from the floor while the Bearcats shot over 55%.
Emporia State closed the gap on the Bearcats early in the second half, trailing just 39-37 heading into the under 15 media timeout. Following the timeout and a layup from the Bearcats, the Hornets put together a 6-1 scoring run over the next three minutes to take a 43-42 lead, their first advantage of the game.
Northwest Missouri regained the lead with 8:35 remaining and pushed their lead back to 56-49 with just over five minutes left in the game. Over the next two minutes, Emporia State scored six straight points on three consecutive layups, trimming the Bearcat lead to 56-55 with 3:32 remaining.
The Bearcats were able to knock down a three on the ensuing possession, regaining a four-point lead over the Hornets, before baskets from
Solomon Oraegbu and
Alijah Comithier tied the game at 59-59 with 1:24 to go.
Emporia State missed their final two shot attempts in the final minute as Northwest Missouri held on 63-59 from Bearcat Arena.
Solomon Oraegbu scored a team-high 17 points with three rebounds and a steal.
Alijah Comithier and
Owen Long also scored in double-figures with 16 and 14 points respectively.
Darius Yohe and
Kaden Evans each tallied a team-high five rebounds while Yohe blocked three shots.
Emporia State will return to action on Saturday, December 30 from White Auditorium as they play host to Friends. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
NOTES:
Owen Long surpassed 1500 career points in his collegiate career and now has 1507 with 756 coming at Emporia State.
