A late 16-point lead wasn’t enough for the Emporia State men’s basketball team to capture a win as Northwest Missouri used a 13-0 run late in the second half to pull away from the Hornets and take home the victory, 84-79.

The loss marked the Hornets’ eleventh of the season and the 8^th loss to an MIAA opponent.

Senior guard Lamar Wilbern started the game out well for the Hornets, hitting a long jump shot to give the team an early two point lead. Wilbern hit again on the next Hornets possession, this time from three point land.

After two points from the Bearcats, senior guard Dustin Andrews hit a big three-pointer to give the Hornets a four point advantage with a little over 17 minutes remaining in the half. Wilbern continued to be hot on the floor, hitting another shot from beyond the arc which extended ESU’s lead to nine.

The first timeout on the floor came with 14:05 left in the half, the Hornets still leading NWMSU by nine, 15-6. At the time, the Hornets were shooting 6-7 from the field.

Junior guard Matt Boswell extended ESU’s lead to 11 with a touch shot near the basket. Another media timeout paused the action with the Hornets on top, 22-11.

A mid-range jumper by junior forward Adam Holthaus and an offensive rebound put-back by senior guard Jeremiah Box put the Hornets in a more favorable position, leading the Bearcats 26-13. Senior guard Jordan Stout chipped in a three-pointer with just over eight minutes to play, giving the Hornets a 16-point lead.

The Bearcats battled back from their double-digit deficit to come within eight points of the Hornets before ESU Coach David Moe called timeout to refocus his team’s efforts.

Holthaus put up two points in the paint on consecutive possessions to give the Hornets back their double-digit lead, 36-24. Thanks to free throw shooting, Northwest Missouri cut into the Hornets lead and only trailed by three heading into the locker room, 36-33

Senior guard Tim Niles struck gold first for the Hornets with a two-point basket and a 15-foot jumper in consecutive possessions. Andrews followed up the points from Niles with a conventional three-point play, giving the Hornets a five point lead, 43-38, with 17:16 remaining in the half.

The Hornets picked up six fouls in less than four minutes, which allowed for repeated second chances for the Bearcats as they finally took the lead with about 15:30 minutes to play, 44-43. Niles would answer with a three-pointer on the Hornets’ first possession trailing Northwest Missouri, giving the Hornets back the lead, 46-44.

Following a media timeout, Stout hit a big time three-pointer that extended the Hornets’ lead to five – the Bearcats committed a turnover on their next possession in their own backcourt as Niles stole the ball, shot and missed from beyond the arc but made three free throws as he was fouled in the act of shooting.

After trading points, Stout stepped up again and hit the same three-pointer as he did earlier. A timeout by Northwest Missouri followed a three-pointer from the Bearcats, with the Hornets still leading, 55-49, with 13:04 left in the contest.

Another trey by the Bearcats cut ESU’s lead to three, 55-52, before Boswell connected with a three of his own, bringing the Hornets’ lead back up to six, 58-52. A media timeout with 9:50 left in the half saw the Hornets holding onto a narrow lead, 58-56.

Two consecutive treys from Northwest Missouri led the Hornets to trail by four with 8:53 left in the half, which forced Moe to call a timeout. Another three-pointer from NWMSU extended their lead to seven, but was quickly cut back down to four by a trey from Andrews.

An empty Northwest Missouri possession quickly turned into a long outlet pass to Holthaus, who in turn made a flashy dunk to swing the momentum to the Hornets. Holthaus duplicated the same move on the next Hornets possession, cutting the Bearcats’ lead to one over the Hornets, 66-65. The last timeout on the floor of the half saw the Bearcats leading the Hornets, 68-66, with 4:35 left to play.

With less than two minutes to play, the Bearcats started pulling away, leading by 10 points thanks to easy plays on the low post due to less than inspiring defense by the Hornets.

In the final minute of the game the Bearcats pulled away from the Hornets indefinitely, defeating ESU 84-79.

The Hornets had five players who scored in double figures, highlighted by Niles with 15 points and Wilbern and Boswell with 14 points apiece. Box had a career-high 11 rebounds to lead the team.

A frustrated Andrews talked after the game about the deficiencies in the Hornets’ game as of late.

“We don’t value possessions,” Andrews said. “We turn the ball over, and that doesn’t matter to us. We just don’t make good decisions in every part of the game.”

Holthaus said that the team’s lack of focus was the cause of the late collapse.

“When we were up 16, it was a great high, and then just started losing our concentration,” Holthaus said. “They were making a few plays that we need to fight through. When they got back even with us, we needed to come through and play harder, and we just kind of eased up and they just took over.”

Moe cited a variety of reasons why the team has not found success.

“It’s the same way every game,” Moe said. “The other team has more will to win, generally, than we do. We’re usually just noncompetitive, non aware – basically we’re not well coached. We don’t do the things that we need to do to win.”

The Hornets will try and rebound from the loss against Missouri Western this Wednesday at White Auditorium. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

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Senior guard Tim Niles shoots over a Truman defender Monday night at White Auditorium. The Hornets beat the Bulldogs 95-84. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

The Emporia State men’s basketball team returned to White Auditorium after the holiday break to defeat the Truman Bulldogs, 92-84.

The Hornets led Truman throughout the first half – a half that was highlighted by two technical fouls committed by Truman coach Jack Schrader, the ejection of Schrader from the facility due to said fouls and an 80-foot first half buzzer beater by freshman guard Taylor Euler.

“It (the buzzer beater) felt great,” Euler said. “The crowd went crazy. I didn’t know how much time was on the clock. I just caught it, took two dribbl

es and just threw it as far as I could. Luckily enough it went in.”

Technical fouls can sometimes be a distraction for a team. Not for the Hornets, in this case. Euler said that the fouls made the game more fun for him and his teammates.

“The crowd reacts to it, and this is such as great auditorium, when it starts getting loud it’s a great atmosphere,” Euler said. “I definitely think it helped us pick up our energy towards the end of the half.”

Senior guard Lamar Wilbern faces of against a Truman guard Monday at White Auditorium. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

Junior forward Adam Holthaus said he tries not to get too caught up in the technical foul mess.

“It’s just part of the game,” Holthaus said. “We have to just go out there and push it away and just keep playing the way we were playing.”

The first half ended with the Hornets going on a 13-2 run while leading the Bulldogs, 48-27.

Truman would not back down from a potential defeat, coming back in the second half by trimming ESU’s lead to single digits several times in their comeback attempt.

“When you get a big lead like that, you tend to back off a little bit…we started getting lazy in the second half and they started hitting shots,” Euler said.

Junior forward Adam Holthaus drives the basket Monday night at White Auditorium. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

Holthaus attributed the team’s rotational defense to the near-collapse.

“It was our entire team defense is what it was,” Holthaus said. “They were setting a lot of screens and getting people open, and we weren’t there to help. The pressure wasn’t all there. It’s kind of one of those things where we just let down a little bit. We just have to stay aggressive.”

The Hornets, however, would hold on to the lead.

Four Hornets were in double figures, led by senior guard Tim Niles with 23. Holthaus, Euler and senior guard Lamar Wilbern, who made his first appearance for the Hornets in four games due to a knee injury, each added 19, 18 and 13 points, respectively.

Wilbern was impressed with the bench play of Euler and the solid contributions of Holthaus.

“We’re a team. Everyone has to bring their A-game,” Wilbern said. “Those guys (Euler,

Junior guard Jordan Stout puts in an easy layup Monday night at White Auditorium.

Holthaus) get overlooked, but they play great. They consistently play good, and that’s what they needed to do. They stepped up to the challenge and they came out tonight and played a good game as well.”

For Euler, bringing something valuable to the team was his mission.

“I just wanted to come in and bring a lot of energy to the team and give them a spark because you know the other team’s starting five is going to get tired, and they’re going to start playing lazy,” Euler said. “When I get in there I’m full speed go, trying to bring a lot of energy and get some easy buckets.”

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Forward Danny McEvoy looks for an opening against an Ottawa defender Saturday night at White Auditorium. The Hornets will face Turman at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 28 at Emporia. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

The Emporia State men’s basketball team punished the Ottawa Braves Saturday night, 101-57.  The win snapped the Hornets’ three-game slide and marked the end of non-conference play.

Junior forward Adam Holthaus, who got the starting nod over senior center Doug Moore, scored the first points on the night on an easy dump pass into the post. The Hornets took a five point lead with over 16:30 to go with a play by senior guard Dustin Andrews, hustling down the court and making an easy layup and taking the score to 8-3.

At the first media timeout, ESU still held onto a small lead at 13-8 with 14:49 left in the half.

Freshman guard Taylor Euler hit a three-pointer with just over 10 minutes to play, giving the Hornets a 12 point advantage, 22-10. With seven minutes to go, Euler stole the ball and took it the distance, giving the Hornets an easy two – on the ensuing Braves possession, senior guard Tim Niles would do the same, which saw the Hornets lead increase to 20 at 34-14.

Prior to the final media timeout of the half, poor shooting and lackluster defense by Emporia State led to four straight points for the Braves and no points for the Hornets, which brought the score to 37-21 still in favor of ESU.

Euler hit another trey right out of the timeout, his third of the half, giving the Hornet lead even more of a cushion at 40-23 with just under four minutes to play.

Guard Tim Niles loses his Ottawa defender Saturday night at White Auditorium. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

The Braves, showing their ability to persevere, went on a 7-0 run and brought the score to 45-32 which was capped by an ESU timeout. Ottawa continued to show up on offense, hitting a contested jump shot off of an inbounds play with under a minute to play in the half.

The first half of the contest ended on a drive to the basket by Niles – Niles would come up short with the shot and the Hornets would go into the locker room with the lead, 46-34.

Holthaus, among others, was not pleased with the Hornets’ performance late in the half.

“We just had to sit back and play defense,” Holthaus said. “We weren’t playing good defense and we weren’t playing aggressive enough on the defensive end. Once we did that, the offense came.”

Holthaus also said that Head Coach David Moe was not too happy with the poor performance in the final minutes of the first half.

“He let us know that we weren’t being aggressive,” Holthaus said. “He told us that we had to come out and play hard.”

Guard Taylor Euler breaks for the inside Saturday night when the Hornets faced the Braves at White Auditorium. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin

Euler said he would have liked to see more of a complete effort from the team.

“One of the things we talked about at halftime is that we just have to compete for 40 minutes,” Euler said. “We can’t back down. We can’t get punk’d…we have to come out strong, and we can’t back down from anybody. I thought that we kind of rested towards the end of the first half.”

Moe noted how important Ottawa’s late push was – and not just for the Braves.

“Ottawa got away with being physical and making a little run on us, and I though it was a great lesson for us coming in at halftime,” Moe said. “I thought the second half we got aggressive and we realized that you’ve got to respond in the right way, and we’re going to see that a lot in our league.  I think it’s happened to us in the past, you know we probably backed down against Western (Missouri), and hopefully that’ll never happen again.”

Guard Matt Boswell pushes back an Ottawa defender Saturday night at White Auditorium. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

To start the second half, Euler hit yet another three-pointer. Niles would also connect from beyond the arc, giving the Hornets a quick six points right out of the half.

Junior guard Matt Boswell became the third straight player for the Hornets to hit a three-pointer out of the half, sinking it with over 17:00 left in the half, which brought the score to 55-36 in favor of ESU.

With 13:33 left to play, Andrews drove to the basket and made the shot while also getting fouled – the charity point was made and the Hornets saw a definitive advantage at 68-42.

A timeout on the floor with 9:37 to go saw the Hornets command a 30-point lead over the Braves, 76-46. The rest of the contest was uneventful, with Emporia State increasing their lead to an astounding 44, as the game came to a close, 101-57.

Euler and Niles led the Hornets in scoring with 19 apiece, while four additional Hornets scored in double figures. Andrews led the team in rebounding with seven, and senior guard Jordan Stout added six assists.

After a nine day break for the holidays, the Hornets will be back in action against Truman. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 28 in Emporia.

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Guard Matt Boswell goes for a lay up Dec. 9 at White Auditorium. The Hornets fell short agaist the Newman Jets 77-80. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

A 16-point second half comeback wouldn’t be enough for a Hornets victory as the Newman Jets slipped past Emporia State 80-77 Wednesday night. The Jets were spot on from behind the three point line throughout the entirety of the contest, hitting 15-24 to ESU’s 4-21.

ESU came out of the gates with the first four points of the contest. A couple of easy three-pointers led the Jets back into the game early, tying the contest at 10-10 with 14:31 left. Newman would take the lead after a timeout on the floor and extend their lead to three at the 12:15 mark.

However, the Hornets’ aggressive, slashing style of offense wouldn’t stay off the scoreboard for long, as junior guard Jordan Stout drove to the basket and made the contested layup despite the foul – the charity point was made, bringing the score to 13-13. Stout would again contribute for the Hornets with a three-pointer with just over 10:30 left in the half.

Another media timeout would pause the game with the Hornets leading 16-15. Newman would come out firing on all cylinders, scoring six straight points on their way to taking the lead, 21-16 – Moe would call timeout.

The Hornets would finally score on a turnover created by a designed trap play, which converted into a senior guard/forward Jeremiah Box tip-in off of a missed layup on the breakaway by senior point guard Tim Niles. Box would score again on a high-effort play, getting his own rebound on a missed shot and then laying it in underneath the basket for two, then again a layup by Box.

A media timeout would give a break in the action, with the Hornets trailing Newman, 26-22 with 4:41 left in the half.

After a Newman three-pointer, Niles would drive the lane and commit a charging foul, and then a technical foul for taunting. The Jets increased their lead to nine at 31-22 after the technical foul free throws.

Both teams would tighten up their defense for the rest of the half, seeing the half come to a close with a Newman lead, 37-26. Box led the Hornets in scoring at the half with 10 points.

Guard Robert Moores drives against the Newman defense Dec. 9 at White Auditorium. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

A Newman three-pointer would start the second half, followed by a turnover by senior center Doug Moore. Senior guard Robert Moores would drive the basket, giving the Hornets an easy two, which was followed by another Newman trey. Box would hit another basket for the Hornets, which was followed by yet another three –pointer by the Jets, who were 9-14 from behind the arc at the 18:19 mark.

The Hornets would go on a spurt to close the Jets lead to 10 with the help of a great defensive effort and offensive output from Box, Moores, and junior guard Matt Boswell. A jumper by Newman forward Tommy Brumbelow would be followed by a traditional three point play by senior guard Dustin Andrews, which cut the Newman lead to nine, 48-39.

After trading points, a questionable flagrant foul was called on Andrews. After two missed free throws, the Hornets would score two from junior forward Adam Holthaus, narrowing the lead to seven at 50-43. Holthaus would score again after an injury timeout, this time with the help of a spin move on the low block. A timeout on the floor with 9:54 left in the contest would see the Jets commanding an 11 point lead over the Hornets, 61-49.

Stout would provide the only real outside threat for the Hornets, hitting a trey with just over 6:30 left to go in the half with Newman leading by 10, 68-58. After a Niles turnover, the Hornets would charge back with a bucket by Box, bringing the score to 72-64 in favor of Newman with 4:09 left in the half.

Guard Jordan Stout works to find an opening against the Jets Dec. 9 at White Auditorium. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

On the ensuing Jets possession, a moving screen violation was called, giving the Hornets the ball – the possession resulted in a layup by Niles and a subsequent timeout by Newman.

Andrews would hit a pivotal three-pointer with just over two minutes to play in the game, closing the Newman lead to three at 74-71. A Jets three-pointer would widen the gap, but on the following Hornets possession Niles would hit a three of his own, bringing the score to 77-74 with 1:30 left to play.

Another Jets trey saw the Hornets trailing by six, but Niles would strike again, this time with three consecutive free throw points off of a shooting foul from behind the arc. The Jets would fail to convert on the ensuing possession, but Niles would come up short with the final three-point attempt of the evening. The Hornets fell to Newman, with the final score 80-77.

Shooting from beyond the arc was a key to Newman’s victory, which proved a frustration point for the Hornets throughout the contest.

“We were frustrated pretty much the whole game,” Andrews said. “I don’t know how their shooters were getting open the entire game. They didn’t really score in the paint, they didn’t look to drive, they shot the three the entire game and they rarely missed. There towards the end we just have to buckle down, we have to get stops, and we didn’t do that.”

Stout said the team was aware of how well Newman could shoot the ball, but the team just couldn’t find their shot.

“We knew they could shoot the ball well,” Stout said. “Obviously you’re going to have some games when teams are hot

Guard Tim Niles lays one up over Newman Forward Tommy Brumbelow Dec. 9 at White Auditorium. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

and some games when teams aren’t. We weren’t hot tonight and they were. That was obviously a big difference in the game.”

Head Coach David Moe laid most of the blame on himself for allowing the team to get down early.

“You have to start the game in a mode of competing,” Moe said. “We’re not well prepared at this point to be able to compete against good teams. I’ve got to do a lot better job of not allowing us to get into that situation.”

Box led the Hornets in scoring with 16, followed by Niles and Holthaus with 14 points each. Box also led in rebounding with seven.

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The Emporia State men’s basketball team fell just short once again to the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos last Monday, this time losing by three points in regulation, 76-73.

The first two points of the contest were scored by senior guard Lamar Wilbern on an assist from senior guard/forward Jeremiah Box off of a recovered turnover. After a UCO field goal, senior guard Dustin Andrews answered with a three-point shot off an assist from junior forward Adam Holthaus.

The Hornets got into foul trouble early, as senior point guard Tim Niles had to take a seat because of two fouls in the first six minutes of play.

After a media timeout at 14:14, ESU shot right out of the gate with a Wilbern FG and subsequent UCO turnover. A pivotal trey by junior guard Jordan Stout forced the Bronchos to call a timeout with 13:18 left in the half. Stout would hit another three-pointer with less than 12:00 remaining, putting the Hornets up by five at 20-15.

Several defensive breakdowns on the Hornets’ part would lead the score to become tied at 22-22 with 9:44 left – timeout on the court led to a break in the action.

ESU scored the next five points, causing another UCO timeout with just under eight minutes to play in the opening half. Right out of the timeout, Box hit a three-pointer from the corner and then on the ensuing UCO possession, Niles forced a turnover which resulted in a breakaway layup. UCO led at halftime, 46-43.

Box started the second half with a nice slashing move to the basket for two. Andrews again answered with the first three-pointer for the Hornets in the half. The ensuing UCO possession saw an air ball, and then countered with a three-point shot from Niles.

A timeout on the floor at 14:19 would see the game tied at 52-52. The Bronchos would attack the Hornets on the low block for the most part of the second half, creating a minimal lead for UCO. Another floor timeout provided another pause in the game at 9:41 with Central Oklahoma leading by four, 64-60.

Wilbern would hit a jumper right out of the timeout. At 4:55 the Bronchos would extend their lead to 10, followed by a slashing move by Stout that cut the lead to eight, 74-66.

Following a timeout by UCO, Wilbern hit an unassisted three pointer to cut the Bronchos lead to five. After a missed field goal by Central Oklahoma, Holthaus would chip in two points with a layup, followed by a Wilbern layup that brought the score to 75-73 in favor of UCO.

“We went stagnant there for awhile, but it was one of those things where we had to fight through it,” Holthaus said. “There at the end we did what we needed to make it a close game, we just have to get it to where we can finish it off.”

Andrews would note the Hornets’ final run to cut down the Bronchos’ lead.

“We’re a great team – we’re going to make runs…we just need to worry about making stops on the defensive end,” Andrews said. “That was a great run. That’s what you want, and that’s what the game’s composed of, it’s a game of runs so we just have to keep feeding off that towards the end.”

Andrews would drive to the basket and make a layup, only to have the call reversed on a charging violation, which brought Andrews out of the game due to fouling out.

“It’s a tough call in that situation,” Andrews said. “You just have to go with whatever he calls. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”

Junior guard Matt Boswell would be forced to foul with 16.6 seconds left, causing a one-and-one at the free throw line. The first shot would rim out, giving the Hornets an opportunity to have the final possession of the game at 75-73, UCO lead. Moe would call timeout with 6.1 seconds left.

Niles would receive the inbounds, only to lose the ball on an errant dribble. UCO would recover the ball and be fouled with 1.2 seconds left – the first of two shots was made, and the second rimmed out and fell to no one as time expired.

Free throw shooting was suspect for the Hornets, as the team only shot 61.9 percent from the charity stripe. It was something Head Coach David Moe thought was a major factor that determined the final score.

“In both games we’ve missed key free throws,” Moe said. “Free throw shooting makes a difference – it wins and loses you games. You have to make free throws when two good teams are playing…I think they missed a free throw or two down the stretch to give us a chance and we didn’t capitalize on it.”

The Hornets’ offense was clicking in the first half until the Bronchos unleashed a zone defense that seemed to stifle ESU’s offensive attempts.

“I think neither one of us felt like we could guard the other man to man, and they came out and found an answer quicker than we did and got the lead and got things going…I think it (zone defense) definitely shook us up,” Moe said.

Wilbern had a double-double for the Hornets with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Two other Hornets were in double figures for scoring – Holthaus had 13 and Andrews had 12. Boswell led the team in assists with four.

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