Men's Basketball | 1/23/2026 1:19:00 AM

GAME 19
Emporia State (7-11, 3-6 MIAA) at #16 Ark.-FORT SMITH (14-3, 5-3 MIAA)
Friday, January 23 • 5:30 p.m. • Fort Smith, Ark. • Stubblefield Center
Series Record: ESU leads 1-0 • Last Meeting: at ESU 81, UAFS 75 (Jan. 26, 2025)
Radio: KFFX 104.9FM 
Internet Audio: kvoe.com | Television: None | Internet Video: The MIAA Network
Live Stats | Ticket Info | Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: at Rogers State • 7:30 p.m. • January 29 • Claremore, Okla. • Claremore Events Center

FRIDAY SNOW DAY 
Emporia State takes on #16 Ark.-Fort Smith on Friday evening due to an expected winter storm.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 7-11, 3-6 in the MIAA and have played the third toughest schedule in the country. Chris Harris leads the Hornets at 13.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Four of their losses have been by five points or less. 

ABOUT THE LIONS
Northeastern State is 14-3, 5-3 in the MIAA and ranked #16 in the NABC National Poll. They lead the MIAA and eighth in the nation in rebounding. Brandon Scott is their leading scorer at 13.4 points and Kameron Johnson is their leading rebounder but both came off the bench last game.

ABOUT THE COACHES
Tom Billeter is 508-303 in his 28th season as a head coach and is 18-29 in his second season at Emporia State after going 394-224 in 21 years at Augustana. With the Vikings he won the 2016 National Championship, went to nine NCAA Tournaments, won three regular season NSIC Championships, two NSIC Tourney Championships, and 18 consecutive winning seasons.  He is 1-0 against Ark.-Fort Smith.
Zane Gibson is 33-40 in his third year at Ark.-Fort Smith and 65-79 in his sixth year overall. He is 0-1 against Emporia State.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE LIONS
Emporia State won the only previous meeting with Ark.-Fort Smith last year in White Auditorium.

LAST TIME VS ARK.-FORT SMITH
Emporia State raced out to a 23 point lead at the half on the way to an 81-75 win over Ark.-Fort Smith at White Auditorium. The Lions were within 16-14 to start the game before the Hornets went on a 20-1 run to take control.  After Emporia State scored eight straight UAFS 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. The Hornets would hold the Lions without a field goal for 7:46 before Isaiah Lewis scored on a put back with 3:11 left. 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. The Lions went on a 10-0 run to get lead under double digits with 6:30 left in the game. Brayson Laube hit Malik Edwards Jr. for a lay up with 30.4 left to make it 78-70.  The Hornets then hit three of four free throws in the final 19.3 seconds to ice the victory. Edwards 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 out-scored the Lions 20-8 off those turnovers.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Hornet men led for nearly 33 minutes on Thursday night as they picked up an 84-71 road win over Northeastern State.
The lead changed hands three times in the first three minutes before Emporia State put together an 11-2 scoring run to take a 15-7 lead and force a RiverHawk timeout at the 15:06 mark. Northeastern State scored nine straight over the next three and a half minutes to take a 16-15 advantage. Neither side led by more than four points again until a 7-2 run following the under-five timeout gave Emporia State a 40-31 lead with 2:57 left in the half. The Hornets shot 19-32 from the floor in the first 20 minutes and took a 47-42 lead into halftime. After the break the Riverhawks rallied with 12 straight points to take a 56-53 lead with 12:32 remaining. At the 9:49 mark with the Hornets trailing 59-56, Emporia State outscored the Riverhawks 16-4 over nearly five minutes to again find themselves ahead by nine. Emporia State would lead by at least two possession for the remainder of the game, with a pivotal point coming with just over 90 seconds left in the game as Chris Harris beat the buzzer to extend the lead back to 78-71 and begin a 9-0 run to end the game, sealing the 84-71 win.
Three Hornets scored in double figures, led by Treyvon Taylor who scored a career-high 21 points. Chris Harris added 18 points while Trey Redd had a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists.  

UP NEXT
The Hornets continue their road trip next week at Rogers State on Thursday, January 29. Tip off from the Claremore Event Center in Claremore, Okla. is set for 5:30 p.m. 

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