An injured thumb and a bad shooting day weren’t enough to keep Wes Book out of his role of late-game hero for Emporia State on Tuesday.
Book, who had missed all five of his previous shots, knocked down a 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining that sealed ESU’s 76-70 victory over Ouachita Baptist in the St. Mary’s River City Classic in San Antonio.
“Wes lives for moments like that,” ESU guard DeAndre Townsend said. “He’s always had that role throughout his career. He stepped up and made a shot.”
It was a much-needed win for the Hornets, who had dropped three straight.
“One thing about our program: We’re used to winning,” Townsend said. “We just got off on the wrong track, and I feel like from here on, we jumped back on the right bus.”
Townsend was a big reason the Hornets were able to hang on.
The senior contributed 15 of his 19 points after halftime, including nine of the Hornets’ last 17 points.
The guard said he wanted to come back with a strong performance after struggling in Monday’s loss to Angelo State.
“Last night after the game, I went back to the hotel and beat myself up pretty much,” Townsend said. “Tonight, I wasn’t going back to the hotel to beat myself up again. I probably wouldn’t have made it to the next game.
“I had to come out and play really well and help my team to a victory.”
Much like Monday, ESU started well, jumping out to a 20-5 lead seven minutes in.
The Hornets saw the lead dwindle quickly, however, as Ouachita cut the deficit to 35-34 just before halftime.
The difference for ESU was its improved play in the second half. Seven straight points from Caleb Tegtmeier helped the Hornets to a 56-47 advantage, and later a pair of Matt Boswell free throws bumped ESU’s lead to 69-57 with 5:46 remaining.
“I think we just kind of kept everything simple,” Tegtmeier said. “In the second half, we kind of stuck together and realized that we weren’t going to win this game by ourselves.”
Antonio Benjamin’s three with 1:23 left made it 71-68, but Book responded with his only field goal of the game. It was just his second game back after suffering an open dislocation of his right thumb.
Townsend and Book’s contributions in the second half were a welcome sight for ESU. The two combined to shoot 7-of-34 from the floor Monday, but they scored the Hornets’ final seven points Tuesday.
“There’s no question they were both big down the stretch,” Tegtmeier said. “We’re going to need them both to keep doing that.”
Tegtmeier led ESU with 21 points and 11 rebounds, going 8-for-13 from the field.
Townsend also shot a good percentage, hitting 8 of 11 shots.
Matt Boswell (10) was the only other Hornet in double figures.
ESU will play its third game in four days on Thursday, taking on Midwestern State in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The Hornets won the teams’ first matchup, 85-83, on Nov. 24 at White Auditorium.
River City Classic
Emporia State men 76, Ouachita Baptist 70
Tuesday at San Antonio
Ouachita Baptist 34 36 — 70
No. 23 ESU 38 38 — 76
OUACHITA BAPTIST (5-4)
Justin Delmar 7-11 3-7 17, Ed Keyes 7-11 0-2 14, Antonio Benjamin 5-9 1-2 14, Memo Rodriguez 2-5 3-4 8, Quinton Smith 2-7 2-3 6, Brandon Rose 2-3 1-6 5, Jaranimo Marks 2-7 0-0 4, Rowan Ledbetter 0-3 2-2 2, Daniel Munday 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-57 12-26 70.
EMPORIA STATE (5-3)
Caleb Tegtmeier 8-13 2-2 21, DeAndre Townsend 8-11 2-2 19, Matt Boswell 2-6 6-6 10, Wes Book 1-6 5-7 8, Andrew Davison 2-4 0-0 6, Jordan Fithian 2-5 1-2 5. Totals 26-56 17-23 76.
Three-point goals — Ouachita Baptist 4-16 (Benjamin 3-6, Rodriguez 1-3, Munday 0-1, Marks 0-3, Ledbetter 0-3); ESU 7-14 (Tegtmeier 3-4, Davison 2-3, Townsend 1-1, Book 1-3, Boswell 0-3). Fouled out — ESU: Allen. Rebounds — Ouachita Baptist 35 (Delmar 13), ESU 36 (Tegtmeier 11). Assists — Ouachita Baptist 12 (Delmar 4), ESU 13 (Townsend 7). Total fouls — Ouachita Baptist 19, ESU 24. Att — 150.
allincalldangit (anonymous) says...
Awesome article, Mr. Newell you do a wonderful job of covering local area sports. I hope you stay with the gazette for many years to come. Keep on with hard work dedication to ESU athletics
December 19, 2007 at 2:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )