All Five Starters In Double Figures in Emporia State's 83-74 Win at Missouri Southern

February 8, 2025-All five Hornet starters reached double figures in an 83-74 Emporia State win at Missouri Southern on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Lions jumped in front 6-3 only to see the Hornets go on an 8-0 run to take an 11-6 lead with 15:33 left in the first half.  Southern led 16-14 on a Tyrique Brooks put back with 12:29 left when Emporia State went on an 8-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to take the lead for good. The Lions got back to within 25-22 with 3:46 left when Brayson Laube and Dallas Bear hit back to back three-pointers to push the lead back to nine points with 2:38 left in the half.  Southern got back within three with 19 seconds left but Bear hit his third three of the half at the buzzer to give Emporia State a 37-31 lead at the break.
 
A hoop and harm by Southern's Isaiah Atwater made it 39-36 with 17:41 left when the Hornets went on a 13-2 run.  Parker Day hit a three-pointer to cap the run with 14:44 left and force a Lion timeout as Emporia State went up 52-38.  
 
Day would hit one of two free throws out of the under ten minute timeout to give Emporia State a 59-47 lead but the Southern had one more run in them. They rattled off ten straight points to get within 59-57 with 5:59 left and force the Hornets to call timeout. Day was fouled out of the time out and hit both free throws to put ESU back up 61-57. On the next possession Karyiek Dixon got a steal and Arhman Lewis converted it into a layup at the other end to make it 63-57.  Day then found Dixon inside for a layup to end a 6-0 spurt and give the Hornets a 65-57 lead with 4:28 left. The teams traded scores for the next four minutes, with Laube personally countering every Southern score with nine points of his own, the last coming on two free throws with 1:09 left.  The Hornets would go seven of eight from the line in the final 42.2 seconds to seal the win.
 
Parker Day had a career high 25 points, including a ten of 12 effort from the free throw line, with nine rebounds to lead Emporia State.  Chris Harris had his first career double-double with 13 points and a career high ten rebounds. Arhman Lewis scored 12 points with five assists while Brayson Laube scored 12 and Karyiek Dixon added ten points.
 
The Hornets will return to White Auditorium on Wednesday, February 12 to play host to Fort Hays State.  Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. with members of the ESU Athletic Director's Honor Roll to be recognized at halftime.