KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — His team trailed by one with 15 seconds left, and Emporia State’s Wes Book was running out of options — and running out of them fast.
His drive to the lane had been stopped by Truman defenders once again. With his back to the basket, he stood in the lane, wriggling like a worm but unable to shake free of defenders.
Time was running out.
He knew he’d been in the lane a long time, so the junior forced up a shot — an off-balanced, one-handed shot that barely made it over the defenders before a hard bounce on the front rim.
And, after hanging in the air like a half-deflated balloon — with ESU’s undefeated season hanging with it — the shot inched its way forward, dropping so softly that it barely rippled the net as it fell through.
Though a lot had helped the Hornets to their 13-0 start this season, some good fortune late helped them with No. 14, as Book’s shot proved to be the game-winner in a 63-60 victory Wednesday night against Truman.
“Someone upstairs was with me,” Book said, “because it crawled in, luckily.”
Book later sealed the win on his own. On the next possession, Truman’s Andy Calmes lost control, and Book grabbed the loose ball. He was fouled immediately with 4.9 seconds remaining.
After making only 5 of his previous 8 free throw attempts, he calmly sank both shots to give the Hornets a three-point advantage.
“I just went out there, took a deep breath, and didn’t think about it,” Book said.
Austin Kirby’s 24-footer to tie it was on line, but took a hard bounce off the front rim to seal ESU’s victory.
Though ESU coach David Moe had believed his team hadn’t faced much adversity during its 13-0 start, he certainly got all of that and more against Truman on Wednesday.
After struggling offensively in the first half — shooting only 26.5 percent — ESU trailed 33-28 at the break.
“They did a better job of being hard to guard,” Moe said, “and they made us work and concentrate so much on defending them.”
Truman’s methodical offensive strategy worked even better at the start of the second half, as a 9-4 run gave the Bulldogs’ a 42-32 lead with 15:49 remaining.
And suddenly, ESU had its adversity — down 10 points against a slow-it-down, 9-4 team on the road in the midst of a bad Hornet shooting night.
“We just had to get somebody hot,” ESU forward Caleb Tegtmeier said. “Luckily, Drew (Davison) came in and got hot.”
Following a pair of free throws and a lay-in from Tegtmeier, Davison gave ESU the spark it needed.
After the Hornets’ defense forced a shot-clock violation, Davison came around a screen and drove all the way to the rim, cutting the deficit to 42-38.
Truman’s Garret Grimm scored off an offensive rebound, but Davison responded. He hit a step-back three on the next possession, then followed that with a pump-fake, drive, and smooth 14-foot jumpshot to bring the Hornets back to within one at 44-43 with 11:43 left.
A Book free throw knotted the score two minutes later, and the teams combined for five ties and 11 lead changes in the final 9:32.
Calmes’ two free throws with 30.7 seconds remaining gave Truman a 60-59 lead and set up Book’s dramatics.
“Right when I shot it, I was expecting the whistle,” Book said. “When I didn’t hear the whistle, I was like, ‘Oh, that had better go in.’”
It finally did, and the Hornets escaped with their third consecutive road victory, improving to 5-0 in the conference.
Book led ESU, posting a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow Emporia High graduate Tegtmeier added 15 points and seven rebounds, while Ed Desir contributed 13 rebounds and a pair of blocks.
ESU won despite making just 20 of its 60 shots (33 percent) and only 4 of its 22 attempts from three-point range (18 percent).
The win sets up a top-10 matchup against No. 3 Central Missouri this Saturday at White Auditorium. Both teams are undefeated with 14-0 records.