MARYVILLE, Mo. — It looked the same, but it felt a whole lot different this time for the Emporia State men’s basketball team.
For the second time in a week, ESU held a 15-plus point advantage over Northwest Missouri State. For the second time, the Hornets watched it slip away.
It was much more painful this time, though, as the No. 16-ranked Bearcats rallied late for a 63-58 victory over ESU on Wednesday.
“This one hurts worse than the last one, because we came out and competed and played the right way,” ESU guard Donta Watson said. “We did the things that Coach (David Moe) wanted us to do, and towards the end, we just didn’t get our breaks.”
Much like the teams’ first game — an 89-72 NWMSU victory last week — ESU grabbed momentum and seemed to have control.
After jumping out to a 30-20 halftime advantage, Watson knocked in a pair of back-to-back threes in the second half, pushing the Hornets’ lead to 4 with just 13:49 remaining in front of a stunned Bearcat crowd.
“We had our edge,” Watson said. “We were playing with that hunger that good team’s need to have.”
It all seemed to quickly disappear for ESU.
Northwest responded immediately, as 3-pointers from Dillon Higdon and Hunter Henry helped the team on a quick 10-0 run that cut the deficit to 40-35 over the next two minutes.
ESU kept the lead at five with 5:26 remaining before the Bearcats made their final push. Henry hit a floater in the lane, and John Hawkins hit a back-breaking three from the corner to tie it at 51 with 4:30 left.
“We knew what they were capable of doing,” ESU guard Wes Book said. “We just didn’t execute as well as we wanted to down the stretch.”
NWMSU scored its next six points off free throws to grab a 57-53 lead.
Watson hit a 3-pointer with 1:01 left to cut the deficit to 60-58, and after a Henry miss, ESU had possession and a chance to tie it or take the lead.
Book cut to the lane, driving underneath the basket before seeing a wide-open DeAndre Townsend on the three-point line.
His pass would never make it there. The ball was tipped by a defender and later stolen by Hawkins.
“I probably should have just shot it,” Book said. “Obviously, that was stupid on my part.”
Hawkins made two free throws to help seal it for Northwest.
The Hornets have now dropped 10 straight games at Bearcat Arena.
ESU played perhaps its best defense of the season in the first half, holding the Bearcats to 20 points and 29-percent shooting.
After saying his team was “abused” in last week’s 18-point loss to Northwest, ESU coach David Moe was much happier with his team’s effort in the tough environment.
“If you play well and play hard, it doesn’t guarantee you a win. It does give you an opportunity to win, and that’s what we had,” Moe said. “We had chances in the last few minutes and shots didn’t fall.”
ESU scored a season-low 28 second-half points in the loss.
Much like it did in the first matchup, Northwest made its move by getting hot from beyond the three-point line.
After making just 1 of its first 11 3-pointers, NWMSU made 6 of 10 during the final 13 minutes.
“They have confidence against us for some reason,” Book said.
ESU also suffered from an inability to get to the free-throw line.
The Hornets — who led the league in free throws coming into the game — had just 10 attempts from the line. Northwest had 18.
Watson led ESU with 19 points, while Book added 15 on 6-of-10 shooting.
Jordan Fithian contributed a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
ESU’s only two losses this season have come to Northwest, but Book said this one would be more difficult to swallow.
“We came up here and tried to out-tough them, and in the end, they ended up getting us,” Book said. “This one hurts a lot more.”
No. 16 NWMSU 63, No. 9 ESU 58
No. 9 Emporia State 30 28 — 58
No. 16 NW Missouri State 20 43 — 63
EMPORIA STATE (17-2, 8-2 MIAA)
Watson 7-17 0-0 19, Book 6-10 0-0 15, Fithian 5-10 0-2 10, Townsend 3-14 4-4 10, Elliott 1-2 0-0 2, Desir 0-1 1-2 1, Tegtmeier 0-2 1-2 1, Davison 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 22-60 6-10 58.
NW MISSOURI STATE (16-4, 9-2 MIAA)
Henry 7-13 1-2 16, Peterson 5-10 2-2 15, Hawkins 3-6 2-2 10, Cayruth 4-7 0-0 8, Sullivan 1-9 5-6 7, Higdon 1-2 0-0 3, Robinson 1-3 1-2 3, Withers 0-0 1-3 1, McKinnie 0-0 0-1 0, Larsen 0-2 0-0 0, James 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 12-18 63.
3-point goals — Emporia State 8-26 (Watson 5-13, Book 3-4, Townsend 0-4, Elliott 0-1, Tegtmeier 0-1, Davison 0-3), NW Missouri State 7-21 (Peterson 3-6, Hawkins 2-5, Higdon 1-2, Henry 1-3, Larsen 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Sullivan 0-3). Fouled out — Emporia State: Fithian, Tegtmeier. NW Missouri State: None. Rebounds — Emporia State 36 (Fithian 10), NW Missouri State 40 (Henry 9). Assists — Emporia State 13 (Watson 3), NW Missouri State 9 (Robinson 3). Total fouls — Emporia State 21, NW Missouri State 10. Att — 1467.