Hornets lose heartbreaker in championship

Courtesy of MSH Photography/Carla Wehmeyer

Senior guard Andrew Davison buries his face in his jersey after the Hornets 57-51 loss to NWMSU in the championship game of the MIAA tournament on Sunday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

The Emporia State men's basketball team made history this weekend by starting the MIAA Tournament as the eighth seed and advancing to the championship game on Sunday. The Hornets notched two upsets on the way to Sunday's game against Northwest Missouri State University, but fell short losing the championship game 51-57.

Tournament action for ESU started on Friday afternoon as the team took on the #1 seed Southwest Baptist. The previous game between the two squads was decided by three points. Friday's game was close once again.

The Hornets struck first in the game with senior guard DeAndre Townsend sinking a jumper. Senior forward Jordan Fithian then drew a charge on SBU's Matthew Rogers which put Rogers in foul trouble and took him out of the game quickly. ESU was able to draw four charges in the first half alone.

SBU put together an 11-1 run, but a Fithian three-pointer stopped the run. Fithian then hit another three-pointer to give ESU a 19-18 advantage. Senior guard Marvin Lee and Townsend both hit three-pointers to put the Hornets up by four points with 8:23 left in the opening half.

The game continued to be close, but at the half ESU led 41-38. ESU had 10 three-pointers in the first half as five different players had at least one three-pointer for the Hornets. As a team ESU shot 48.1 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from the three-point line.

The defensive intensity started again in the second half as Lee took a charge for ESU. Senior guard Caleb Tegtmeier hit a three-pointer at the 15:42 mark to put ESU up 48-43. SBU was able to fight back and tied the game with 13:38 left in the game. ESU responded with a jumper from Townsend and a three-pointer from Lee. The Hornets built up a lead as big as six, but SBU used a run to take the lead.

The two teams fought closely as neither team was able to lead by more than four in the final four minutes. SBU took a one point lead with 54 seconds left, but senior guard Andrew Davison quickly responded with a three-pointer to give ESU a 80-78 lead.

Davison said that he was relieved he was able to hit the shot but knew that the game wasn't over.

"It was very nice, to help my team to put us up with a minute to go like that. It feels so nice because everyone counted us out," Davison said. "We needed a big stop. If we miss three and they come down and score, my college career is over and I want to play as long as I can."

The Hornets then hit three of its final four free-throw shots to win the game.

Head Coach David Moe was happy about the upset win, but said the team has been working toward the tournament for a while.

"I don't think we're a typical eight seed. I think we've been preparing for this tournament the last two, three weeks and I think it's shown up in the last 10 days," Moe said. "You got to make a lot of shots, you got to make a lot of plays, and you really got to battle and I thought we were very fortunate to come out on top. But we've had enough heartbreaking moments this year that we deserve a little bit of positive."

Townsend led the Hornets with 24 points and seven assists. Davison added 15 points, Tegtmeier had 15 as well. Lee chipped in 14 points as Fithian had 11 points. ESU made 16 three-pointers on the day and shot 52.1 percent from the floor.

Townsend thought the previous game between the two schools helped the Hornets despite being on the losing end and was certain ESU could come out on top.

"I knew we could do it, we played them tough at home. I think from the point guard's perspective that game gave us a lot of confidence," Townsend said. "We knew that coming into this game that it would be the same similar close game"

Moe was pleased with his team's effort and overall play for the opening round.

"When you've got a group that just gives everything that they've got in the right way for the right things as their coach you want them to have success," Moe said. "I'm so proud of these guys and so happy for them more than anything."

ESU looked for its second straight upset of the tournament as the team took on the fifth seeded Fort Hays State University. In the regular season, the Hornets split with FHSU by winning in Emporia, but losing at FHSU.

The hot three-point shooting continued for ESU in game two as the Hornets started out the game with two quick three-pointers from Tegtmeier and Townsend. Even though ESU was able get off to an early lead, FHSU kept pace and the two teams played a back and forth game for a majority of the first half.

FHSU built up an eight point lead with 4:04 left in the half, but ESU responded and cut the deficit to four points at the end of the half. At the break ESU was down 28-32. The first half included three ties and eight lead changes.

As the second half got underway, FHSU kept the lead and was able to build it up to as big as six before ESU used a 15-0 run to take the lead. The Hornets took the lead at the 16:22 mark of the second half and kept it for the remainder of the game. A three-pointer from Townsend gave ESU a nine point lead with 13:22 left in the game, but FHSU cut the lead down to three points with just over nine minutes left.

"The 15-0 run was big for us. We came out and did that and just felt great," Davison said. "It was a big turnaround from the first half, when we made no runs."

ESU got the lead back up to nine with a pair of free-throws from Townsend and was able to hold on for a 71-63 victory. The win propelled the Hornets to the MIAA championship game. It was the first time in tournament history that an eighth seeded team made it to the final game.

Townsend led the Hornets once again with 30 points and five assists. Tegtmeier had 13 points as Davison added 11 points. Fithian was big on the boards as he had 8 points and 10 rebounds. As a team, ESU shot 44.2 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from behind the three point line.

Fithian was happy with being able to pull down as many rebounds as he could to help ESU toward a victory.

"I may not be the best athlete, but I can box out and get rebounds," Fithian said. "That's what I'm going to do to help my team"

The weekend finale came against the second seeded NWMSU Bearcats. NWMSU got off to a quick start and forced an early ESU timeout as the Hornets were down 0-8 at the 16:23 mark. Out of the timeout the Hornets got a trio of three-pointers coming from sophomore guard Dustin Andrews, and two from Townsend.

ESU found itself in yet another close game as no team was able to get a lead bigger than four points for the final 15 minutes of the half. ESU was able to come back from four points down and take a two point lead with two seconds left following a pair of free-throws from junior guard Spencer Allen. On the ensuing possession, NWMSU hit a shot from the opposite three-point line at the buzzer to take one point lead into the break.

The Hornets were down 27-28 at the end of the half as the team made seven three-pointers on seven for 11 shooting. ESU only had one two point field goal in the first half.

Tegtmeier hit a three-pointer for ESU in the early going of the second half to tie the game at 30. NWMSU then built up a six point lead at the 14:30 mark. The Hornets got a three point play from Lee who was able to convert the free throw and cut the lead in half. NWMSU responded and built a lead back up to six before Townsend hit a jumper followed by a three-pointer to cut the gap to one point with 9:43 left in the game.

Despite the efforts, NWMSU continued to build a lead back up. The outside shooting for ESU went cold in the second half and the Hornets were not able to convert at the end. NWMSU won the game 57-51.

The Hornets were led for the last time by Townsend with 16 points. Davison had 12 points on four three-pointers as Lee had nine points and seven rebounds. Tegtmeier added six points and six rebounds as Fithian pulled down nine rebounds. ESU went four for 22 from behind the three-point line for the second half and 11 for 33 overall for 33.3 percent. The Hornets only had four points in the paint to NWMSU's 26.

"We weren't able to get as good as looks as we had in the past because they took us out of what we wanted to do," Moe said.

Townsend agreed with Moe and said that the defensive scheme for NWMSU was very effective, but he was happy about making as far as they did.

"I felt like Northwest did a great job defending tonight. I guess today wasn't our day," Townsend said. "Coming into this tournament, no one expected us to go this far and to be here."

The game puts ESU at 14-16 for the year. The loss is the end of the collegiate career for six seniors. Moe said he was proud of his team and especially the senior leadership.

"I don't think I've enjoyed a group more. I had six very special seniors that at least showed Kansas City and the league how much heart and pride that we have. I don't think as a coach you'd want to be represented by six better people. They fought their hearts out all year and in the end we just came up a little short."