Hornet men pick up road win Saturday over Northeastern State, 75-70
By Jesse Newell
Monday, November 20, 2006
It was a big win. A quality win. A road win.
And maybe that doesn’t do the Emporia State men’s 75-70 victory over Northeastern (Okla.) State on Saturday justice.
“It’s a little more than that, at least from my perspective,” ESU coach David Moe said. “The way things were last year, and the way things have been better this year, I really felt like we deserved to win.”
In a game that featured six ties and 14 lead changes, the Hornets earned the victory down the stretch.
Trailing 65-64 with 2:37 remaining, ESU guard DeAndre Townsend drove for a layup and got fouled, adding the free throw to give the Hornets a two-point lead.
Northeastern’s Steve Neal hit a jumper to tie it, but Jordan Fithian responded with a tip-in to make it 69-67.
“I thought we fought hard,” Moe said. “We grinded it out. We just kept competing.”
After a Neal free throw, Andrew Davison came up with the key play for ESU with 1:06 remaining.
The junior stole the ball and raced to the other end for a layup, stretching the Hornet lead to three.
“That was the last chance they had to take the lead on us,” Moe said. “His steal was huge.”
Neal’s layup with 38 seconds left trimmed the advantage, but Townsend hit a pair of free throws with 16 seconds remaining to make it 73-70.
ESU’s Wes Book came up with a defensive stop, stealing the ball and knocking down his two free throws with six seconds left to ice it.
“For being an early game in the year, there was quite a bit of excitement about winning,” Moe said. “It really validated the way we’re doing things and the type of people we have.”
Donta Watson and Townsend led the Hornets with 14 points each. Davison added 13, going 3-for-4 from behind the three-point line.
Book contributed 11 points and four steals.
ESU trailed by as many as seven points in the first half before rallying for the victory.
The Hornets (2-0) will face the Baker Wildcats Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in White Auditorium. The game will follow a matchup between the Lady Hornets and Missouri Valley Vikings at 5:30.
“Now we’ve got to continue and get better,” Moe said. “The last couple years we’ve won games on the road early, but we never got any better. This team should continue to get better throughout the year.”