Tale of Two Halves in Emporia State's 85-79 Loss at Pittsburg State

February 6, 2025-It was a tale of two halves as Emporia State led early before Pittsburg State mounted a second half comeback in an 85-79 Gorilla win on Thursday in Pittsburg, Kan.
 
The Hornets scored the first nine points of the game and led 23-8 with 13:15 left in the half. A Parker Day three-pointer at the 9:01 mark gave Emporia State their biggest lead of the night at 30-14.  The Gorillas then went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 30-24 before Karyiek Dixon hit a pair of free throws with 3:05 left to stop the run.  Dixon scored on a hook shot in the lane with 1:46 left to give Emporia State a 34-24 lead but Pitt State scored the final five points including a near buzzer beating three from Jordan Frison to make it 34-29 at the break.
 
The Hornets held the Gorillas, who entered the game leading the league in made three pointers to just one of ten from beyond the arc in the first half and just 38.2% shooting from the field overall. 
 
Tanner Mans scored the first four points of the second half for Pitt State as they extended their run to 9-0 .  Brayson Laube stopped the run with a pull-up jumper at the 18:36 mark before R.J. Forney tied the game before the Gorillas with a three-pointer 15 seconds later.  There would be four ties and 11 lead changes over the next eight and a half minutes.  Day hit two free throws with 10:07 left to give the Hornets a 54-53 lead.  The Gorillas answered with a 9-0 run to take the lead for good.  The deficit reached 14 points at 76-62 with 4:04 left when the Hornets started a comeback. Emporia State went on a 9-1 run with the first six points coming from Dixon before Justin Mack capped the run with a three-pointer to make it a two-possession game at 77-71 with 2:29 left. Devin Conley scored off a Gorilla turnover wth 27.0 seconds left to make it 82-77 but Pitt State hit three fo four free throws in the final 22.1 to seal the win.
 
The Gorillas shot 69% from the field and 50% from the three-point arc in the second half.
 
Karyiek Dixon led Emporia State with a career high 29 points on ten of 17 shooting with five rebounds and three steals.  Chris Harris was the only other Hornet in double figures with 14 points and a team high seven rebounds but all eight players that were available scored at least three points. 
 
Emporia State will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Joplin, Mo. to take on Missouri Southern.  Tip-off from the Leggett & Platt Center is set for 3:30 p.m.