Emporia State struggles early, then rolls to easy victory over Bethany
By Joey Berlin
Monday, December 22, 2008
During the first 15 minutes and the last 25, the Emporia State men looked like two different basketball teams.
When Bethany was building a lead that reached as many as nine points, and was at eight points with about five minutes remaining in the first half, it might’ve been hard to tell which team on the floor was the NCAA team and which was the NAIA team. The Hornets had spent all week working on their offense for the heart of MIAA play, and Bethany was taking advantage of them defensively.
Once the Hornets started finding the middle of the hoop and stepped up their defense, things returned to what you’d expect out of an Emporia State-Bethany game. The Hornets put up a 16-2 run at the end of the first half, then began the second half with a 13-0 surge on their way to an easy 89-61 win.
“First half, man, was tough — we hadn’t played in a week or so, and practice never simulates game situations,” said Lamar Wilbern, who led the Hornets with 20 points. “I know we were kinda cold, couldn’t make shots. The effort was there.
“Second half, we were kind of loose, a little more relaxed, stuck to the game plan and the shots fell.”
Emporia State shot just 34 percent in the first half, and it took the 16-2 run at the end of the half to get it that high. The Hornets trailed 18-9, then 31-23 after a Brandon Miller layin with 5:22 left. But Robert Moores’ jumper about 30 seconds later got them started on the game-changing run. Jeremiah Box stepped in the passing lane for a steal and drove for a layup to make it 31-28, and a traditional three-point play by Shang Ping after a pass from Moores tied the game at 31. After Miller scored to give Bethany the lead back, Box knocked down a three off a crosscourt skip pass from Wilbern to give the Hornets a 34-33 lead. A steal by Adam Holthaus got a break started, and Moores found Wilbern on the run to give ESU a three-point lead. Then Moores grabbed a steal at halfcourt and drove for a lefthanded layup with just eight seconds left in the half to make it 39-33 ESU at the break.
“I thought (Bethany) came out and played great, and I thought that we weren’t really ready,” ESU coach David Moe said. “We spent a lot of our week during finals running an offense to prepare us against Central Missouri-type teams that we struggle with, and we weren’t necessarily prepared. We spent all week working on offense, and then the game started out, our offense was no good, and then our defense was pitiful.
“And I’m glad they did a great job exposing us defensively — got layup after layup and easy shot after easy shot in the first half — and it was good that we were able to make some adjustments.”
Wilbern got the 13-0 run started in the second half with a jumper off an assist from Dustin Andrews. Tim Niles drove the lane and kicked to Box on the left wing for his second 3-pointer, and then Niles, who’d been scoreless in the first half, buried back-to-back threes to make it 49-33. Bethany called timeout, but Wilbern added yet another long-range shot to widen the lead to 19. From there, it was over — the Hornets’ lead reached as many as 33 before the game ended, and Moe emptied the bench.
Moores had 12 points and four assists for ESU, Box had 11 and Niles had 10. Ping had nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.
“Again, we spent a whole week working on one phase of the game to prepare for later on,” Moe said. “I didn’t want to have to spend time doing that stuff when we came back from Christmas, because once we come back from Christmas, every day is kind of built on working on yourself and the other team, and getting ready to try and win games.
“And this was still a game that we were able to work on what we need to do and then make adjustments throughout, and still come out OK, because we’ve got more talent than they do.”
The Hornets feel pretty good about where they are as they enter the break.
“I think we’re comfortable,” Niles said. “I don’t think we’re exactly at our peak yet, but we’re progressing each day. So having a break, I think it would help us and harm us a little bit. ... But we come back after four or five days from Christmas and we got our first practice. It’s a long wait, but, for the most part we’ll get back into shape really quick.”
Saturday at White Auditorium
Bethany 33 28 — 61
Emporia State 39 50 — 89
Bethany (5-7) — Holcom 1-3 2-2 4, Miller 3-7 0-2 6, Littlejohn 3-11 2-2 8, Wells 3-9 2-2 8, Beachum 4-7 0-0 8, Honeycutt 0-0 0-0 0, Bietau 0-1 0-0 0, Banning 4-7 3-4 11, Goggins 1-4 0-0 2, Jennings 2-6 0-0 4, Edwards 0-2 0-0 0, Aspegren 5-8 0-0 10. Totals 26-65 9-12 61.
Emporia State (8-2) — Ping 4-8 1-5 9, Box 4-10 1-2 11, Niles 4-9 1-1 10, Andrews 0-1 0-0 0, Wilbern 8-15 1-2 20, Stout 2-3 0-1 5, Burdolski 0-0 0-0 0, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Moores 4-11 3-6 12, Boswell 0-3 0-0 0, Pyle 2-4 1-2 5, Moore 3-4 1-1 7, Holthaus 4-7 2-3 10. Totals 35-75 11-23 89.
3-point goals — Bethany 0-8 (Wells 0-4, Littlejohn 0-2, Bietau 0-1, Jennings 0-1), Emporia State 8-22 (Wilbern 3-5, Box 2-3, Niles 1-2, Stout 1-2, Moores 1-5, Pyle 0-2, Boswell 0-1, Holthaus 0-1, Andrews 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Bethany 39 (Miller 10), Emporia State 44 (Ping 9). Assists — Bethany 11 (Holcom 3), Emporia State 17 (Moores 4). Turnovers — Bethany 19, Emporia State 12. Total fouls — Bethany 21, Emporia State 12. Att. — 1,440.