February 28, 2024 – The Emporia State men scored 51 second half points but fell just short on Wednesday night, dropping their road matchup against Pittsburg State 79-76.
Emporia State started on the front foot, scoring five of the first seven points to take a 5-2 lead at the 18:35 mark of the first half. The Hornets struggled after their initial start, shooting just 2-11 from the field over the next eight minutes, entering a media timeout with 10:30 left in the first half trailing the Gorillas 17-9.
After the timeout, the Hornets put together a 10-2 scoring run as they tied the game 19-19 with 7:44 remaining in the first half. Pittsburg State responded by closing the first half on a 12-6 scoring run as Emporia State trailed 31-25 entering the halftime break.
In the first half, Emporia State won the rebound battle 18-15 but shot just 10-28 from the floor and 1-6 from three while the Gorillas went 11-24 from the floor.
Following the break, the Hornets quickly scored five straight points to trim the Pittsburg State lead to 31-30. Emporia State was unable to retake the lead but entered the media timeout with 15:00 remaining trailing the Gorillas 44-43. The Hornets took their first lead since the opening minutes with 13:56 remaining as a pair of free throws from
Atavian Butler put the Hornets ahead 47-46.
Pittsburg State retook the lead and held a 54-53 advantage heading into the under ten timeout.
Alijah Comithier made a two free throws on the opposite end of the timeout as Emporia State led 55-54 with 9:48 remaining. The final lead for Emporia State would come with 8:33 left as a pull up jumper from
Atavian Butler fell to put Emporia State in front 57-56.
A 7-1 scoring run for the Gorillas that lasted until the 5:27 mark put the Hornets behind by five.
Cael McGee made a corner three on the ensuing possession to cut the lead to two but four straight points from Pittsburg State following the under-five timeout gave the Gorillas a 67-61 lead with 3:55 to play. Over the final four minutes, the Hornets fought to overcome the deficit, trimming the deficit to one possession on multiple occasions, including with a three from
Owen Long with 1:24 to go to cut the Pittsburg State lead to 73-71.
After four straight points from the Gorillas, a step back three from
Alijah Comithier made the score 77-74 with 57 seconds remaining. The Hornets forced a miss on the ensuing possession and got a basket from
Atavian Butler to make the score 77-76 with ten seconds left. Following two free throws from the Gorillas, Emporia State came up short on a three with five seconds left and were unable to get up a second shot after an offensive rebound as they fell 79-76.
As a team, Emporia State shot 45.6% from the floor, including over 55% in the second half.
Atavian Butler posted a career-high 27 points on 10-17 shooting.
Alijah Comithier had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Cael McGee had 10 points while
Owen Long had nine,
Kaden Evans had five and
Darius Yohe had four.
Emporia State will wrap up their regular season with the Turnpike Tussle at Washburn. Game time in Topeka on Saturday, March 2 is set for 3:00 p.m.
