Emporia State Men's Basketball ends road trip with two in Colorado

Men's Basketball | 11/20/2024 3:54:00 PM

GAME 5 
Emporia State Hornets (1-3) vs. Fort Lewis Skyhawks (3-3)
Friday, Nov. 22 • 5:30 p.m. (MT) • Grand Junction, Colo. • Brownson Arena
Series Record: First Meeting • Last Meeting: First Meeting
Live Stats vs Fort Lewis
GAME 6
Emporia State Hornets (1-3) at Colorado Mesa Mavericks (2-2)
Saturday, Nov. 22 • 7:30 p.m. (MT) • Grand Junction, Colo. • Brownson Arena
Series Record: CMU leads 2-1 • Last Meeting: CMU 72, at ESU 68 (12/6/2002)
Live Stats vs Colorado Mesa
Radio: None | Internet Audio: None | Television: None | Internet Video: The RMAC Network
Ticket Info | Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: Peru State (Neb.) • Sunday, Dec. 1 • Emporia, Kan. • 2:00 PM

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
Emporia State wraps up their six game season opening road trip with two games in Colorado starting with Fort Lewis on Friday and Colorado Mesa on Saturday. It is the longest season opening road trip for the Hornets since they opened the 2014-15 season with six on the road.

LAST TIME OUT
William Jewell hit 15 three-pointers on the way to an 89-74 win over Emporia State on Tuesday night in Liberty, Mo. The Hornets used a 7-0 run to pull within 28-25 with 9:19 left in the half.  A Malik Edwards three-pointer had Emporia State within 43-38 with 1:09 left but the Cardinals scored the final four points to take a 47-38 lead into the half. Jewell scored the first point of the second half but Emporia State responded with a 7-0 run to get within 48-45 with 17:43 remaining. The Cardinals took the lead to double digits with an 11-0 run to go up 64-48 with 10:52 left. The Hornets would get six stops during the run but could not convert on offense as they went 6:05 without a score.  Malik Edwards led Emporia State with 21 points while Karyiek Dixon scored ten.  Brayson Laube was the leading rebounder for the Hornets with seven boards to go with seven points and three assists.

ABOUT THE COACHES
Tom Billeter is 1-3 in his first season at Emporia State and is 491-277 in his 27th season as a head coach after going 393-224 in 21 years at Augustana. With the Vikings he won the 2016 National Champoinship, went to nine NCAA Tournaments, won three regular season NSIC Championships, two NSIC Tournament Championships, and 18 consecutive winnings seasons since 2007. This is his first meeting with Fort Lewis and he is 1-0 against Colorado Mesa, winning 95-84 in the 2010 Central Regional Semifinal.
Jordan Mast is 3-3 in his first year at Fort Lewis and 102-29 in his sixth year overall. This is his first meeting with Emporia State.
Mike Dunlap is 2-2 in his first year at Colorado Mesa and is 411-215 in his 21st year as a collegiate head coach.

UP NEXT
The Hornets make their White Auditorium debut on Sunday, December 1 when they play host to Peru State. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 1-3 in their first year under coach Tom Billeter. All three losses have come on the road at teams receiving votes in this week's NABC National Poll. Malik Edwards Jr. is scoring 17.0 points per game and he is joined in double figures by Brayson Laube at 13.3 points per game. Donald Coats III is the leading rebounder at 7.8 boards per game while Arhman Lewis has dished a team best 4.3 assists per game. 

ABOUT THE SKYHAWKS
Fort Lewis is 3-3 on the season. The lost their first two games at the SCB Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla. and have won three of four home games since then. Biko Johnson is averaging a team best 15.7 points per game while Chuol Deng adds 13.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. 

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first meeting between Emporia State and Fort Lewis in men's basketball.  The two schools did meet in the 2010 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship game won by the Lady Hornets 65-53.

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
Colorado Mesa is 2-2 on the year and are making their home debut this weekend. Their two losses were by 29 and 23 points to start the year and have a pair of three-point wins in their last two games. Ty Allred is averaging 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. He is joined in double figures by Mason Honeyman at 13.3 points and Harvey White at 10.0 points per game.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the fourth meeting between the two schools with Colorado Mesa leading 2-1.  The Hornets won the first matchup in 1987 in Grand Junction while the Mavericks have taken the last two, one in Grand Junction and one in White Auditorium in back to back games in 2002.

LAST TIME VS COLORADO MESA
Mesa used a 14-6 run over the last 3:25 of the game to take a 72-68 victory over Emporia State in the Greg Rahe Voice of the Hornets Classic on December 6, 2002 in White Auditorium. Thomas Vincent scored 16 points and was joined in double figures by Demond Perris with 15, Aaron Shaw with 14 adn Robbie Ballard with 13 points. The three point line was the difference in the game as the Mavericks hit 14 of 23 from beyond the arc and the Hornets hit just four of 13 three-point attempts. 

COACHING CONVENTION
Coach Billeter and Coach Dunlap have combined to win three NCAA Division II National Championships and four National Coach of the Year Awards.

1500 AND COUNTING
The Hornets have won 1,511 games in their 120th year of playing basketball. They are ranked 16th in total wins among active NCAA Division II schools.

CENTURY MARK
Emporia State's 100-73 win over Newman last year marked the 104th time the Hornets have cracked the century mark in their history.    
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), eight times under Craig Doty (173 games in six 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).

REGIONALLY SPEAKING
The NCAA Central Region is made up of teams in the MIAA, Northern Sun and Great American Conferences. This year the MIAA is 14-17 against the region with a 10-9 record against the NSIC and a 4-8 mark against the GAC. Overall in non-conference action the NSIC is 37-23  against D2 competition, the MIAA is 27-25 and the GAC is 12-15.
Seven of the last ten national champions have come from the Central Region, including coach Billeter's 2016 win at Augustana, and the region has been represented in eight of the last ten national championship games.

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 53-35 in MIAA play with a 73-45 overall record. 

FRIENDLY CONFINES
The Hornets have won 18 of their last 21 games in White Auditorium. The 14 wins are the most home wins by the Hornets since they went 14-3 in 2006-07. They are 435-201 (.684) since 1979 in White Auditorium. Emporia State has won 36 of their last 45 (.800) games since the start of the 2021-22 season and 219 of their last 315 games (.695) 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 20 of the last 22 seasons.

HORNETS RANK IN NATION IN ATTENDANCE
In 17 home games last year the Hornets averaged 1,224 fans per game to rank 16th in the nation among the over 300 NCAA Division II basketball playing schools. It continued a string of 20 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. 

HORNETS IN THE POST SEASON
The 2022-23 season marked Emporia State's third trip to the NCAA Tournament in 33 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
There is one MIAA team in the Top 25 and two more receiving votes in the this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Poll. Emporia State has received votes in seven NABC National Polls last season and were in the Top 25 the first five weeks of the season. During the 2022-23 season Emporia State had a string of five straight weeks being ranked, their longest streak since a ten week span during the 2006-07 season. 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.  

CLOSERS
The Hornets have won 39 of their last 42 games when leading at the 5:00 minute mark of the second half. They are 1-1 under Coach Billeter.

GIVE ME 20
The 2023 season was the fourth time Emporia State won 20 games as a member of the NCAA and the 12th time in school history. The Hornets 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 12 times over the last 34 seasons.

LISTEN & WATCH LIVE
Audio of all Emporia State games are available on the Hornet Sports Network across Northeast Kansas and into Missouri. Flagship station KFFX 104.9FM is joined by SportsRadio 1490AM in Topeka and 103.7FM in Kansas City as the Voice of the Hornets Blake Cripps calls the action. Audio is also available on kvoe.com and the Audacy app. KFFX is in their 37th straight year as the radio home of Hornet Athletics, the longest active streak between a commercial station and an MIAA school.
Video webcasts for all of Emporia State's regular season games are available on a pay per view basis from the MIAA Digital Network. The MIAA Network content is available live and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing after each event.  Fans can find the action on www.themiaanetwork.com and on The MIAA Network apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku.

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.