Silent Surge
Hornets hang with Wichita State in 2nd half, go on to lose, 87-62
By Jesse Newell
Thursday, November 2, 2006
It wasn’t enough to win. It really wasn’t enough to come close.
But, for a nine-minute stretch in the second-half, the Emporia State men’s basketball team didn’t just compete with Wichita State — it took it to the Shockers.
After trailing by 33, the Hornets used a 25-9 run to pull within 17 before falling, 87-62, in the exhibition opener for both teams at Koch Arena in Wichita.
“The game started to slow down for us,” ESU guard DeAndre Townsend said, “and it got kind of fun out there.”
It also started to get quiet. Though a near-sellout crowd of 10,478 had packed the rafters in WSU’s first game since last year’s Sweet 16 appearance, the fans fell nearly silent during ESU’s second-half surge.
“It was more fun that we had five guys out there working together,” ESU guard Donta Watson said. “That was more fun than quieting the crowd.”
After falling behind 66-33 with 12 minutes remaining, ESU began to make its move.
Transfer Jordan Fithian went at two taller post players, contributing a pair of turn-arounds to start the stretch.
After a Watson steal and basket, Townsend drained a pull-up three to cap a 10-1 Hornet run.
“We just realized that even though Wichita State is a Sweet 16 team,” Watson said, “it’s just basketball.”
Three minutes later, Townsend backed up a three-point play with a potential four-point play, making a 3-pointer from the right wing and also drawing a foul. The junior jumped to his feet, clapped his hands and screamed out encouragement to his teammates.
“I just like to play with my heart, and then my teammates back me up,” Townsend said. “They feed from my energy. I just try to go out there and lead by example.”
Ed Desir later added a layup on a pass inside from Fithian, and Watson finished another steal with an easy lay-in to cut the deficit to 75-58 with 3:48 remaining.
During the previous nine minutes, ESU had amazingly held the Shockers to just a single field goal — a 3-pointer by P.J. Cousinard.
“We’ve all got room to improve, but I certainly enjoy coaching this group,” ESU coach David Moe said. “I’m pleased with how we handled ourselves.”
It was a little tougher go early on for ESU, which suffered from some jitters in the first half.
The Hornets came away empty on their first eight possessions, committing four turnovers in that stretch that allowed WSU to take an 8-0 lead.
“It was a lot of nervousness and a lot of tension,” Townsend said. “A lot of us newcomers, we weren’t used to this atmosphere. It was a little crazy out there at times.”
Late in the half, shots refused to go down for ESU. The Hornets shot just 20.7 percent in the first half on their way to a 42-21 deficit at the break.
“I thought we were patient, did a good job of moving the ball, and got as good of shots as we were going to get,” Moe said. “It’s just that nothing was falling in.”
ESU improved considerably in the second half, making 15-of-30 shots for an impressive 50 percent.
Watson and Townsend both looked unintimidated in their Hornet debuts. Watson finished with 19 points and six assists.
Meanwhile, Townsend contributed 17 from the point-guard position.
“We’ve got to get other guys to run with him,” Moe said. “He pushes it better than any guard I’ve had so far.”
Desir was a force inside for ESU, coming away with seven points and 12 rebounds.
The Hornets have one game left on their tough preseason road, taking on No. 3 Kansas next Tuesday in Allen Fieldhouse.
Watson said the team should be able to adjust better to its surroundings after experiencing a Division-I atmosphere.
“We were definitely anxious and excited tonight,” Watson said. “I think you could see it from the way we played.”