Rocky Mountain low as Emporia State Men's Basketball falls to Fort Lewis

November 22, 2024-Fort Lewis hit four three-pointers in a 90 second span of the second half to take control in an 82-71 win over Emporia State on Friday night in Grand Junction, Colo.
 
The game started out fairly low scoring with the team tied at 7-7 over the first five minutes.  The Skyhawks used a 6-0 run to go up 13-7 with 13:44 left in the opening half.  The Hornets then used a 12-1 run to take a 19-14 lead with 9:10 left on two free throws from Malik Edwards Jr. Emporia State would hold the lead the rest of the half and led 35-29 with just under a minute left on a Chris Harris jumper following a Brayson Laube steal.  The Hornets would lead 37-33 headed to the locker rooms.
 
Back to back three-pointers from Dallas Bear and Laube gave Emporia State its biggest lead of the night at 45-34 with 18:05 left in the game. The Hornets still led by eight when Edwards grabbed a rebound and went coast to coast to make it 47-39 with 16:10 left. The Skyhawks then went on a 14-1 run thanks to four three-pointers from three different people in the span of 95 seconds.  Tru Allen hit back to back threes around a Hornet turnover to give Fort Lewis a 53-48 lead with 14:26 left to force Emporia State to call timeout.
 
The Hornets would regain the lead at 59-58 with 10:54 left in a jumper from Edwards following an Arhman Lewis steal. The Skyhawks got a three-pointer from Stewart Erhart and four free throws from Moore to take a 67-61 lead with 9:15 remaining. After a steal by Donald Coats III Laube drove for a layup to get within 69-66 with 7:41 left but Fort Lewis scored six of the next seven points to go up 75-67 with 4:56 remaining. The Skyhawks closed the game on a 7-4 run for the final score.
 
Malik Edwards Jr. led Emporia State with 19 points on seven of 11 shooting while Brayson Laube went five of eight and three of three from the three-point line for 14 points with a team high five assists.  Parker Day and Devin Conley each scored nine points with Day pulling down seven rebounds.
 
Emporia State is back in action on Saturday night when they take on host Colorado Mesa.  Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. (MT)/8:30 (CT)  in Grand Junction, Colo.