Townsend, ESU Men Top Missouri Western 88-76 to remain perfect
By Jesse Newell
Monday, January 22, 2007
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The final buzzer had sounded and his team had already left the court when DeAndre Townsend made his way back across the gymnasium floor.
He had heard the three all game. They started in shoot-around, calling him short and selfish and terrible.
Townsend finally received his chance to approach the three students he had never met. With a smile on his face, he started down the line, shaking each of their hands and patting them on the back.
Perhaps he should have thanked them while he was at it.
Motivated by some talk from the crowd, Townsend delivered one of his best scoring performances as a Hornet, putting in 21 points in Emporia State’s 88-76 victory over Missouri Western.
“On the road, the student section and fans, they bring that extra little umph,” Townsend said. “They trigger me, and they get me going, just like the Little Engine That Could.”
Townsend was especially inspired at the end of the first half, scoring ESU’s final eight points as the Hornets went into the break tied at 38.
After his layup at the 4:48 mark, he turned and looked up at the student section. He did the same after his jumper on the next possession.
Then, after having the crowd yell “Boo” at him during free throws, he yelled “Boo” himself after making his second freebie with 31.7 seconds remaining in the half.
The 5-foot-8 Townsend said he was used to playing with a chip on his shoulder.
“I’ve played like that my whole entire life,” Townsend said. “Being a little man, I always got picked on. ‘You’re too little to play. You’re too little to do this. You’re too little to do that.’ That was always my motivation. I feed off that, and that’s just my game.”
The true turning point for ESU, though, came during a 5-minute stretch in the second half.
After trailing by as many as five points, the Hornets found their spark off the bench in the form of sharpshooter Andrew Davison.
Much as he did Jan. 10 against Truman, Davison provided jumpshots — and energy — to a team desperately needing it.
The 6-foot-3 junior made his presence felt immediately, knocking in two 3-pointers in 29 seconds to give ESU a 62-56 advantage with 11:15 remaining.
He wasn’t finished. The guard put in two more threes in the next four minutes, helping the Hornets on a 21-2 spurt to give them a commanding 77-58 lead.
“Tonight,” Davison said, “I just couldn’t miss for that run.”
The rest of the scoring during the stretch came from a revived Ed Desir.
After a subpar first half where he had just two points and three rebounds, Desir came to life. He scored nine points during the spurt, shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from both the floor and the free-throw line.
“Ed just doesn’t know how valuable he is to this team,” Townsend said. “As the big man and the intimidator on defense, he energizes us. He definitely gets me going. I’ve never played with a big man like Ed.”
Western put together a 13-2 run to cut the deficit to 79-71 with 2:50 remaining, but Townsend’s drive and subsequent layup pushed the lead back to 10.
The Griffons wouldn’t get any closer than eight points the rest of the way despite grabbing eight offensive rebounds in the final 5 minutes.
Donta Watson led ESU, scoring 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting. He made 5 of his 12 shots from three-point range.
Davison contributed 15, while Desir and Wes Book added 11 apiece. Desir also finished with 10 boards after grabbing just three in the first half.
ESU improved its record to 16-0 despite sluggish play in the first half for the second straight game.
“Western certainly outplayed us in the first half,” ESU coach David Moe said. “If the second half would have continued like the first half, I don’t think we would have won that game.”
The only unfinished business after the game was left for Townsend, who made sure to go see the three who had inspired him.
And also made sure to shake each of their hands.
“It’s all in the sport of the game. No hard feelings,” Townsend said. “They get me going, I’m getting them going. It’s all fun.
“That’s what we’re out here for — to have fun on the basketball court.”