Turns out the Emporia State men’s basketball team can play a little bit of defense, too.
After rolling up 113 points against Baker on Tuesday, the Hornets found a different way to get the job done Friday in a 70-58 victory over Northeastern (Okla.) State in the Greg Rahe “Voice of the Hornets” Classic.
The win was the second in a week for ESU over Northeastern. The Hornets also defeated the Redmen, 75-70, last Saturday in Tahlequah, Okla.
“After playing those guys at their place,” ESU guard Donta Watson said, “we knew we had to focus on playing good defense.”
ESU did just that, holding NSU to 32 percent shooting in the first half and 38 percent in the game.
“Our defense picked up,” ESU coach David Moe said. “We don’t have great individual defenders, but we’ve got a pretty good team concept.”
The Hornets never trailed in the contest, extending their lead to 26-13 with an 10-1 run midway through the first half.
Forward Ed Desir gave ESU the spark it needed during the stretch. After backing down defenders in the post and drawing a double-team, he spotted teammate Andrew Davison cutting to the basket.
“I didn’t know if he saw me or not,” Davison said. “But then it just landed right in the middle of the lane.”
How it got there was the amazing part.
Without turning, Desir wrapped a behind-the-back bounce pass around the two Redmen, hitting Davison in stride for an wide-open lay-in.
“I was like, ‘Wow, Ed.’ He’s never done that in practice — I’ve never seen him do it,” Davison said. “I was really surprised. I about missed the layup.”
Moe said he wasn’t as taken by the crowd-pleasing pass from his big man.
“Oh, I’ve seen that. I’ve seen that one quite a bit. I saw the other one he threw out of bounds, too,” Moe said with a laugh. “But he’s a very good passer down in the post. He always has been.”
ESU extended its lead to 51-32 in the second half before Northeastern stormed back.
Josh Dennis and Steve Neal provided consecutive 3-pointers, and LaMont George finished a drive with two as the Redmen quickly cut the deficit to 11.
“We felt like tonight we had to play with a certain amount of toughness to get through it,” Watson said.
ESU found that toughness in its defense, as NSU scored just one field goal in the next four minutes.
The Redmen did cut the lead to 60-52 with six minutes remaining but never came any closer.
Watson led ESU with 15 points, scoring 10 of those in the first half.
Davison added 13, continuing his astounding success from beyond the three-point line.
The junior hit 3 of 6 threes, making him 13 of 20 (65 percent) from beyond the arc this season.
“It’s just falling. I don’t know what I’m doing different from any other years,” Davison said. “It might be White Auditorium, I don’t know. I like it here.”
DeAndre Townsend contributed 12 points and five assists.
The victory keeps the Hornets’ record at a perfect 4-0 and gives them the season sweep over the Redmen.
The teams split their two meetings last season.
“It’s hard to beat a team the first time on their home court, and then they come back amped up,” Watson said. “It’s definitely good to beat a team twice and know how to play through the adversity.”
ESU will play again at 7:30 tonight against Central Oklahoma (3-1) in the final game of the Classic.
Missouri Western 81, Central Oklahoma 64
Joe Manthe scored 17 points to lead Missouri Western to the 17-point victory in the opening game of the Greg Rahe “Voice of the Hornets” Classic.
MWSU shot an impressive 62 percent from the field in the game.
Sam Belt led UCO with 18 points. It was the Bronchos first loss of the season.