March 2, 2024 – The Emporia State men rallied from a 19-point second half deficit on Saturday afternoon to take down Washburn 80-76 and complete the season sweep over the Ichabods in the Turnpike Tussle.
Owen Long scored the first four points for the Hornets as the game was tied 4-4 through the first three minutes. Over the next five minutes, Washburn outscored Emporia State 17-5 as they built a 21-9 lead at the 12:05 mark of the first half. Emporia State was unable to trim the Ichabod lead below seven points over the final 12 minutes of the half, as Washburn took a 46-32 lead into the halftime break.
In the first half, Emporia State shot just 32% while the Ichabods shot 48% from the floor.
Alijah Comithier and
Owen Long had 11 and 10 points each in the first half.
Following the halftime break, the first basket came on a three from
Kaden Evans at the 18:54 mark. Washburn followed the Evans three with eight straight points, taking a 54-35 lead, their largest of the game with 16:24 left.
Owen Long responded to the run with back-to-back threes as the Hornets cut the deficit to 56-41.
With the Hornets trailing 60-45 at the 12:31 mark, a three from
Drew Tennial started a 10-0 scoring run for the Hornets which included five straight points from
Alijah Comithier and was capped off by an
Owen Long pullup jumper as Emporia State trailed 60-55 with 8:20 remaining. Washburn scored six of the next seven points over the next two minutes, restoring their ten-point lead with 6:07 to play.
Owen Long responded with his third and fourth threes of the half, cutting the Washburn lead to 66-62 with just over five minutes remaining. A basket for Washburn in the paint sent the game into the final media timeout with the Hornets trailing by six. After a basket from the Ichabods on the other side of the timeout, an alley-oop layup by
Darius Yohe cut the Washburn advantage to 70-64 with four minutes to play.
After a pair of Ichabod turnovers, the Hornets had possession with two and a half minutes to play.
Owen Long brought the ball up the court and hit a step back three for his fifth three to cut the Ichabod lead in half. Following a miss from Washburn on the ensuing possession, Long hit another pullup three, his sixth of the half, to tie the game at 70.
After an Emporia State timeout with 90 seconds to play, an offensive rebound led to the Ichabods getting two free throws to regain a 72-70 lead with 1:09 left in the game. Emporia State came down the court and retook the lead for the first time since 4-2 on another three from
Owen Long.
Kaden Evans followed the three with a steal on the other end to give the Hornets the ball back. After burning the shot clock,
Owen Long came off a screen to bury a 25-footer, his eighth three of the half, and extend the Emporia State lead to 76-72 with 33 seconds remaining.
Washburn made a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left to trim the lead to 76-74.
Kaden Evans went to line and made one of two free throws to extend the lead to 77-74 with 16 seconds left. After a layup for the Ichabods with eight seconds on the clock,
Cael McGee was fouled and sent to the free throw line, where he made both to restore the three-point lead. The Ichabods attempted to draw a shooting foul on the Hornets but were unsuccessful as the ball landed out of bounds for Emporia State.
Atavian Butler was fouled on the inbound pass with just under two seconds remaining and made the first to seal the 80-76 comeback win over Washburn to sweep the season series in the Turnpike Tussle.
Owen Long led the Hornets with an Emporia State career-high 36 points with 26 coming in the second half. Long went 8-10 from three, setting a new career-high.
Alijah Comithier joined Long in double figures with 19 points while going 10-11 from the free throw line.
With the win, Emporia State secured the seventh seed in the MIAA Tournament and will take on #10 Lincoln on Wednesday, March 6 at 8:15 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
