Men's Basketball | 3/5/2024 5:03:00 PM
Game #31
Emporia State Hornets (19-11, 12-10 MIAA)
vs. Lincoln Blue Tigers (14-14, 9-13 MIAA)
MIAA Tournament First Round
Wednesday, March 6, 2024 • 8:15 p.m. • Kansas City, Mo. • Municipal Auditorium
Series Record: ESU leads 23-14
Last Meeting: at ESU 66, LU 57 (2/24/24)
Radio: KFFX 104.9FM
Internet Audio:
kvoe.com
Television: None
Internet Video:
themiaanetwork.com/esuhornets
Live Stats |
Ticket Info |
Complete Notes in pdf
Hornet MIAA Tournament Media Guid in pdf
Up Next: Winner vs Ft. Hays State • Thursday, March 6 • 8:15 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo. • Municipal Auditorium
INTO THE MADNESS
Emporia State begins their 23rd MIAA Tournament against Lincoln. It is the second straight year the Hornets and Blue Tigers have met in Kansas City.
LAST TIME OUT
Owen Long scored 18 points in the last 5:44 to lead Emporia State to an 8-76 win at Washburn. The Ichabods jumped out to a 21-9 lead eight minutes in and took a 46-32 lead into halftime. WU took their biggest lead at 54-35 with 16:24 left when the Hornets started their comeback. Long started a 20-6 run with back to back threes and finished it with a pull up jumper with 8:20 left to get ESU within 60-55. Washburn went back up ten with 6:07 left Long went to work. He hit six straight from beyond the arc giving the Hornets a 73-72 lead with 1:04 left and making it a two possession game with 33 seconds left. ESU made four of six free throws in the final 16.3 seconds to secure the win. Long finished with 36 points while
Alijah Comithier added 19 points.
Darius Yohe had seven rebounds and five blocked shots.
THE COACHES
Craig Doty is 97-75 in his sixth season at Emporia State. In his 12th season as a head coach at the D2, NAIA, and NJCAA level he is 259-125 with three national championships. He was 49-22 in two years at Graceland and won the 2018 NAIA National Championship. Doty spent four years at Rock Valley College winning two NJCAA D-III national championships to finish with a 113-28 record. He is 6-5 against Lincoln.
Jimmy Drew is 31-24 in his second year at Lincoln. He is 1-4 against Emporia State.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 19-11, 12-10 in the MIAA.
Alijah Comithier is third in the MIAA in scoring at 18.0 points.
Owen Long leads the league in three-point makes and percentage.
Darius Yohe leads the association in blocks while
Kaden Evans is second in steals.
ABOUT THE BLUE TIGERS
Lincoln is 14-14, 9-13 in the MIAA and have lost seven of their last eight. This is their 11th MIAA Tournament appearance. They are second in the MIAA in made three-pointers. Elijah Farr is fourth in the league in rebounding.
SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State holds a 23-14 lead in the series after winning six of the last seven meetings. The teams are tied 1-1 in MIAA Tournament play.
LAST TIME VS LINCOLN
Emporia State got contributions from all six seniors in a 66-57 win over Lincoln.
Ethan Hildebrand got his first career start and scored the first two points 90 seconds into the game. The Blue Tigers then used an 8-2 run to take an 8-4 lead with 15:11 left. Lincoln took a 31-25 lead into the locker room. A 13-2 run gave ESU a 38-36 lead with 15:00 left. LU was within 56-54 with 3:12 remaining but ESU converted eight of ten from the free throw line, including six straight from
Owen Long in the final 1:06 to preserve the 66-57 victory.
Alijah Comithier scored 24 points with eight rebounds while Long and
Drew Tennial each scored 16 points.
UP NEXT
The winner will take on Fort Hays State in the MIAA Quarterfinals on Thursday at 8:15 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium
DOTY MAGIC
Three-time National Champion head coach
Craig Doty is in his sixth season as head coach at Emporia State. He is 259-125 in his 12th year at the NCAA D2, NAIA and NJCAA levels, including a 136-92 mark in conference play. Doty is 146-97 as a head coach at four year schools with a 97-75 record since taking over for the Hornets.
He is 86-41 in games played in February and March with a 31-9 (.775) record in the post-season. Four of those nine post season losses were to the eventual national champion.
Doty led Rock Valley College and Graceland University to national prominence earlier in his career. In just two seasons at Graceland, Doty's program had a 49-22 record and won the 2018 NAIA Division I National Championship in the school's first trip to the national tournament at Kansas City's historic Municipal Auditorium. The Yellowjackets started the 2017-18 season 10-8 and ended the year winning 19 of their final 21 games. Along the way Doty earned NAIA National Coach of the Year, HoopDirt.com NAIA National Coach of the Year, and the 2018 Don Meyer Award. Doty's programs at Rock Valley College won NJCAA Division III National titles in 2014 and 2016 while his 2015 squad came up just short finishing National Runner-up.
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 72-41 overall record.
HORNETS IN THE POST SEASON
Last year was Emporia State's third trip to the NCAA Tournament in 32 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
Emporia State has received votes in seven National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Polls this season and were in the Top 25 the first five weeks of the season. There are a two MIAA teams in the Top 25 and two more receiving votes this week. The Hornets received votes in the final NABC National Poll last season, the 11th time the received votes in the season. Earlier ESU had a string of five straight weeks being ranked, their longest streak since a ten week span during the 2006-07 season. Last year was the first since the 2007-08 season Emporia State cracked the Top 25. 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 38 of their last 39 games when leading at the 5:00 minute mark of the second half. Emporia State went 21-1 last season when leading at the 5:00 mark of the second half. Part of that is due to the Hornets shooting 78.7% as a team from the free throw line in the final five minutes and overtime of games last year.
GIVE ME 20
The Hornets won 20 games in back to back seasons for the first time since 1987-90 last year. Emporia State won 20 games for the first time since the 2007 season when they finished the year 21-8 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. This was the fourth time the Hornets have won 20 games as a member of the NCAA and the 12th time in school history. Emporia State 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.
THREE (OR FOUR) TIMES 1,000
Three Hornets have scored at least 1,000 points in their NCAA Division II careers.
Alijah Comithier has scored 2,116 points in 133 total games to lead all active MIAA players.
Owen Long has scored 1,744 points in 137 total games while
Solomon Oraegbu has scored 1,367 points in 100 games.
Darius Yohe has 1,066 points in 130 games at four year institutions after scoring 956 points in 100 games at NAIA William Woods.
REVOLVING DOOR
The Hornets have lost 68 player games to injury or illness this season. Peyton Rogers Schmitt has not played since injuring his knee against Kansas State in the exhibition opener,
Drew Tennial has missed 17 games, Solomon Oraegub has missed the last eight games,
Atavian Butler missed six games,
Cael McGee missed six games,
Owen Long has missed two and
Ethan Hildebrand has missed one with an illness. Not counting Rogers Schmitt, since he was lost in preseason, Emporia State has had their full lineup available for just three of the 30 games this season.
1500 AND COUNTING
The Hornets have won 1,510 games in their 119 years of playing basketball. They are ranked 16th in total wins among active NCAA Division II schools.
THERE WAS A 1-2-3-4 PUNCH
Four Hornets are averaging at least 13.5 points per game this year with
Alijah Comithier at 18.0,
Solomon Oraegbu at 16.3 points,
Owen Long at 15.6 and
Atavian Butler at 13.7 points per game as all four are in the top 20 of the MIAA in scoring. Comithier is the only one that has played in all 30 games this season.
Last year
Owen Long led Emporia State at 17.2 points per game and
Alijah Comithier averaged 14.6 points per game. A total of ten different Hornets scored in double figures at least once last season with nine having multiple games of at least ten points.
The duo of Tray Buchanan and Jumah'Ri Turner was the top scoring back court in the nation in 2021-22. Buchanan led the nation in scoring at 25.6 points per game while Turner averaged 19.8 to rank third in the MIAA. Their combined 45.4 points per game was the top average in NCAA Division II for a pair of guards.
HOT START
The Hornets 9-1 record after ten games matched last year's start while the nine game winning streak was the best since winning 16 straight in 2006-07. Last year the Hornets opened the season 7-0 for the first time since going 16-0 to open the 2006-07 season. It was the tenth time in 119 seasons of Emporia State basketball that the Hornets have opened the year 7-0 and the first time at least six of the wins have come against D2 teams.
CENTURY MARK
Emporia State's 100-73 win over Newman marked the 104th time the Hornets have cracked the century mark in their history. They have reached 100 points eight times in 172 games under Coach Doty, matching their total for the previous eight seasons combined.
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), 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).
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 14 home games last year the Hornets averaged 1,382 fans per game to rank eighth in the nation. Emporia State men's basketball fans helped the Hornets rank in the top ten in attendance among the over 300 NCAA Division II basketball playing schools last season. The #7 national ranking continued a string of 19 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. Emporia State had a season high 2,865 for their game against Washburn on February 26 on Senior Day. Emporia State outdrew 123 NCAA Division I schools in total attendance during the 2021-22 school year including eight teams that made the NCAA Tournament. Within the Division II ranks, the Hornets outdrew 60 of the 64 teams that were selected for the NCAA Tournament, including six of the eight #1 seeds and six of the teams that made the Elite Eight.
REGIONALLY SPEAKING
The NCAA Central Region is made up of teams in the MIAA, Northern Sun and Great American Conferences. The MIAA is 19-10 against the region with a 7-9 record against the NSIC and 12-1 against the GAC. However the MIAA only has two teams in the top ten listed in the first NCAA Regional Rankings, with seven teams from the NSIC represented.
Emporia State was one of three MIAA teams in the regional field last year, tying the NSIC for the most representatives. The MIAA went 71-36 (.664) mark in non-conference competition and every team in the Association had an opponents winning percentage of over .500 on the season. The NSIC was 77-40 (.658) and the GAC went 50-37 (.575) against outside competition.
LISTEN & WATCH LIVE
Video webcasts for all of Emporia State's regular season home games are available on a pay per view basis from the MIAA Network. Content is available live and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing after each event at www.themiaanetwork.com. Audio of all Emporia State games are available on KFFX 104.9FM and at www.kvoe.com with Blake Cripps in his first year on the call. KFFX is in their 36th straight year as the radio home of Hornet Athletics, the longest active streak between a commercial station and an MIAA school. All games will also be available on the internet at www.kvoe.com/listen.
TURNING PRO
Emporia State's Tray Buchanan and Brenden Van Dyke both signed professional contracts following the 2021-22 season, giving the Hornets six professional players in the last four seasons. Buchanan signed with AEL-Limassol in Limassol, Cyprus while Van Dyke signed with CD Agulia San Miguel in El Salvador
Julius Jackson became the fourth Hornet men's basketball player to sign professionally following the 2018-19 season when he signed a professional contract with Raiders Basket Jarvenpaa in Finland. Hassan Thomas signed with Sampaense Basket of Portugal Proliga while Malik Hluchoweckyj signed with KK Bratunac of the Bosnia BiH Liga also signed pro contracts overseas while Kooper Glick played with the Washington Generals - the regular opponent of the Harlem Globetrotters. It is the first time in school history the Hornets had four players from the same class sign to play professionally in the same year.
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.
HOW DO YOU SAY THAT:
2
Alijah Comithier: Ah-lie-zha Com-a-thear (rhymes with fear)
7
Solomon Oraegbu: Oh-ray-boo
10
Atavian Butler: Ah-tave-ian
13
Drew Tennial: Ta-kneel
22
Darius Yohe: Yo-he
