Big First Half Leads to Emporia State 81-75 Win over Ark.-Fort Smith

January 26, 2025-Emporia State raced out to a 23 point lead at the half and came away with an 81-75 win over Ark.-Fort Smith on Sunday afternoon at White Auditorium.
 
The game started out tight with two ties and four lead changes in the first six and a half minutes.  Devin Conley hit a jumper just outside the lane to give the Hornets an 11-10 lead with 13:27 left in the half and ESU would not trail the rest of the game.  Tommie Williams hit two free throws with 9:19 left to get the Lions within 16-14 before the Hornets went on a 20-1 run to take control of the game.  After Emporia State scored eight straight Terrell Williams Jr. hit a free throw with 6:19 left to make it 24-15.  The Hornets then reeled off another 12 straight to go up 36-15 with 3:53 left. ESU would hold UAFS without a field goal for 7:46 before Isaiah Lewis scored on a put back with 3:11 left.  Malik Edwards Jr drained a three-pointer with 32 seconds left to give the Hornets their biggest lead of the half at 45-21 before a Lewis free throw with 1.7 seconds left made it 45-22 at the break.
 
Emporia State hit 18 of 33 (.545) shots in the first half, including a six of 14 effort from beyond the three-point arc while holding Ark.-Fort Smith to just seven of 25 (.280) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Edwards hit two free throws to open the second half and give the Hornets their biggest lead of the game at 47-22 with 19:20 remaining.  A Dallas Bear three-pointer gave Emporia State a 50-26 lead at the 17:32 mark when the Lions went on a 10-0 to cut the lead to 14 with 14:51 left. Back to back three-pointers from Justin Mack and Arhman Lewis pushed the Hornets lead back to 20 with 12:23 remaining. Edwards scored on a tip in with 8:00 left to make it 66-47 when the Lions went on another 10-0 run to get lead under double digits for the first time since 6:19 mark of the first half. 
 
Williams Jr. hit one of two free throws for the Lions to make it a two possession game at 74-68 with 1:56 left.  After an offensive foul on UAFS, Edwards scored of an assist from Lewis with 1:24 left to push the lead to 76-68. Williams Jr. came away with a steal and fed Elijah Wilson for a fast break layup with 39.3 seconds left to make it 76-70. After a UAFS timeout, Emporia State broke the Lions press and Brayson Laube hit Edwards for a layup with 30.4 left to make it 78-70.  The Hornets hit three of four free throws in the final 19.3 seconds to ice the victory.
 
Malik Edwards Jr. led Emporia State with 22 points and was joined in double figures by Karyiek Dixon with 14 and Dallas Bear with 12 points.   The Hornets forced 18 turnovers and outscored the Lions 20-8 off those turnovers.
 
Emporia State continues their four game home stand on Thursday, January 30 against Rogers State. Tip-off from White Auditorium is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
NOTES:
Emporia State played with out Parker Day, who was in Michigan following the birth of his child.