Jordan Fithian saw his opportunity against Midwestern State in the opening 20 minutes. He didn’t take it.
“I drove early in the game in the first half, and their help defense wasn’t there,” the ESU forward said. “I was like, ‘Man, I should have dunked that, but I’m not that athletic.’”
The senior pushed his athleticism — and gravity — aside in the second half.
With 15:32 left, Fithian saw a crease, barreling through the lane and throwing down a ferocious tomahawk slam while getting fouled.
His free throw gave No. 23 ESU its first lead of the second half, and the Hornets held on after that for an 85-83 victory over MSU on Saturday at White Auditorium.
“It was the best dunk of my career in a game,” Fithian said. “It was exciting. It was exciting to see the team hop up and get the fans up.”
In actuality, the ESU players didn’t hop up after Fithian’s dunk — they bent over to help him up.
That’s because they were so excited they knocked Fithian all the way into the bleachers after his slam.
ESU guard DeAndre Townsend had no trouble finding adjectives to describe the feat.
“Beautiful. Spectacular. I’m trying to think of so many great words to say,” Townsend said. “Magnificent. Did I say spectacular?
“The big boy had been waiting all year.”
Fithian hadn’t dunked since last year’s game against Central Missouri, and he even called that one “a little pud thing.”
This one brought down the house at the right time, as it helped spark ESU to an 18-2 run that turned an 11-point deficit into a 56-51 lead.
“From there, it was like, ‘Let’s get out and go. We can play with this team,’” Fithian said.
Townsend also was a key part of the run, scoring nine of the 18 points, including a four-point play. The guard had 17 of his team-high 22 points in the second half after not practicing the two previous days because of back spasms.
ESU barely held onto the lead late.
After getting up by as many as 11, the Hornets’ lead was trimmed to 84-83 with 36 seconds left.
The Hornets were 1-of-4 from the floor with four turnovers in the final 5 minutes.
“We did practically everything wrong down the stretch you can do,” ESU coach David Moe said. “We kept giving them every opportunity to beat us.”
Townsend hit one of two free throws with 18.2 seconds left before MSU’s Russell Button missed a 3-pointer with 8 seconds remaining.
Fithian picked up the rebound and threw it downcourt, but teammate Marvin Lee couldn’t hang on as it rolled out of bounds with just one-tenth of a second remaining.
The Mustangs’ in-bounds pass was tipped away to secure ESU’s win.
“Having five seniors out on the court that have played in close games ... the experience helps,” Fithian said. “I don’t think anybody gets nervous any more. We get nervous, but it’s an excited nervous. It’s a chance to win a game instead of when you’re younger, maybe it’s like, ‘Can we blow this?’”
ESU had five players in double figures, including Townsend (22), Wes Book (21), Fithian (15), Lee (11) and Caleb Tegtmeier (11).
The Hornets (3-0) will play Ottawa at 7 tonight in White Auditorium.
Emporia State 85, Midwestern State 83
Saturday at White Auditorium
MSU 41 42 — 83
No. 23 ESU 33 52 — 85
MSU (1-2)
Chris Davis 11-20 6-8 33, Trajinski Grigsby 5-9 3-6 17, Michael Godwin 3-4 3-3 9, Christopher Reay 1-2 6-6 8, Nolan Richardson IV 1-15 4-4 7, Russell Button 1-3 0-0 3, Marcus Anderson 1-2 1-2 3, Jeremy Ford 1-5 0-0 3, Kevin Brandsma 0-0 0-0 0, Earl Rabb 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 23-29 83.
EMPORIA STATE (3-0)
DeAndre Townsend 6-13 8-11 22, Wes Book 7-14 4-5 21, Jordan Fithian 6-13 3-5 15, Marvin Lee 3-9 5-6 11, Caleb Tegtmeier 4-7 2-3 11, Matt Boswell 0-2 5-9 5, Dustin Andrews 0-1 0-0 0, Andrew Davison 0-2 0-0 0, Spencer Allen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 27-39 85.
3-point goals — MSU 12-29 (Davis 5-8, Grigsby 4-7, Ford 1-3, Button 1-3, Richardson IV 1-8); Emporia State 6-21 (Book 3-7, Townsend 2-6, Tegtmeier 1-3, Boswell 0-1, Andrews 0-1, Davison 0-1, Lee 0-2). Fouled out — MSU: Davis; Emporia State: Tegtmeier. Rebounds — MSU 42 (Grigsby 12), Emporia State 37 (Fithian 10). Assists — MSU 17 (Richardson IV 7), Emporia State 14 (Townsend 8). Total fouls — MSU 30, Emporia State 19.