February 22, 2025 - The Emporia State men fell on Saturday afternoon 89-85 on the road against Newman.
Emporia State got off to a slow start on Saturday, as Newman climbed out to a 7-0 start in the opening minutes, before a 13-4 scoring run, capped off by an Arhman Lewis three, gave the Hornets their first lead heading into the first media timeout at the 14:40 mark. Following the timeout, the Hornets increased their lead to 23-16 at the 11:29 mark, their largest lead of the game.
The Jets were able to respond with ten straight points, as they retook the lead over Emporia State 26-23 with 7:34 remaining in the first half. The Hornets briefly retook the lead at the 6:28 mark, as a three by Chris Harris made the score 28-26. The lead would change hands two more times over the next three minutes, as Emporia State led 33-31 with 3:25 left until halftime.
Newman was then able to close the half on a 15-7 run, taking a 46-40 lead into the halftime break. Emporia State shot 47.1% from the floor in the first half, including 7-10 from three, but Newman shot north of 50% and went 8-16 from the three in the first 20 minutes.
Following the break, Newman expanded their lead over the first three minutes, taking a 54-44 lead at the 17:00 mark. The Hornets responded with an 8-1 scoring run capped by a layup from Justin Mack with 13:38 left to make the score 55-52.
Emporia State was unable to cut the deficit below three points, and the Jets built their largest lead of the game, a 70-59 advantage with 8:59 left. The Hornets answered back with eight of the next points, as a three-point play by Malik Edwards cut the Newman lead to 72-67 with 7:04 remaining.
The Jets once again responded to a push by the Hornets, expanding their lead back to ten points, leading 78-68 with just over three minutes remaining in the game.
Over the next 90 seconds, the Hornets got six points from Chris Harris and four points from Malik Edwards to trim the deficit to 81-78 with 1:44 left. A pair of free throws by Karyiek Dixon cut the Newman lead to 82-80 at the 1:24 mark.
Emporia State nearly tied the game with just under a minute remaining, before Newman knocked down a three to build an 85-80 lead with 32 seconds remaining. The Hornets answered on the next possession, as Harris grabbed an offensive rebound and made his fourth three of the game to make the score 85-83 with 17 seconds left.
Newman made two more free throws before Arhman Lewis made a layup with eight seconds left to trim the Jets lead to 87-85. The Jets sealed the game with eight seconds left with two more free throws as the Hornets fell 89-85.
Chris Harris led the Hornets with 21 points and was one of four in double figures. Malik Edwards scored 18 points while Karyiek Dixon and Parker Day had 15 and 14 points respectively.
Emporia State is back in action on Wednesday, February 26 as they host Missouri Western. Tip-off between the Hornets and Griffons is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at White Auditorium.
