The entire locker room was down, the players dejected.
Just 2 1/2 weeks ago, Caleb Tegtmeier knows first-hand the Emporia State Hornets were in a funk — one he wasn’t sure they were going to get out of.
“You could kind of tell everybody was dreading coming to practice,” Tegtmeier said.
It’s amazing how quickly things have changed for the Hornets.
ESU continued its hot streak on Saturday, holding on for a 67-60 victory over Fort Hays State at White Auditorium.
The Hornets have won three straight, five of their last six, and have gone from a team wondering if it could win without Wes Book to a team wondering if it will lose before he gets back.
“Once you get a little confidence behind you, there’s no telling what we could do,” Tegtmeier said. “We could run the rest of the table.
“There’s a lot of tough games in there, but there’s nobody we can’t beat right now.”
The Hornets proved that Saturday, taking down the MIAA’s hottest team — Fort Hays had won five straight games — to move all the way into a tie for third in the conference standings.
Not too shabby considering that less than a month ago, ESU was 7-7 overall and just 1-3 in conference play.
“Inside of the group among us, we kind of felt like we underachieved up until this point,” ESU guard DeAndre Townsend said. “Just to get back into the race and get back into the hunt, now we’re reaching our expectations.”
The Hornets won Saturday by building a big lead before sweating it out down the stretch.
ESU grabbed a 35-23 halftime advantage with a fluid offense and tough defense.
The Hornets shot 52 percent in the first half (14 of 27) and out-rebounded the Tigers, 21-14.
“They were letting us move the ball around,” Tegtmeier said. “I think that’s the main thing with our offense. If somebody lets us move it, you’re in trouble, because we move so much and move the ball so much. If we can move it side to side, somebody’s going to get lost.”
ESU’s lead grew to as large as 17 in the second half before FHSU started to pick up the aggressiveness defensively.
It took a while for ESU to respond, as the Tigers used an 11-3 run to trim the lead to 50-46 with 7:42 left.
“I thought we were distracted and complaining about their physical play and expecting them to bail us out instead of matching their intensity,” ESU coach David Moe said. “When one team’s soft and one team’s physical, the physical team wins.”
ESU changed its approach just in time.
Led by six points from Townsend, ESU answered with an 8-0 run that made it 59-48 with 4:13 remaining.
Again, the Hornets almost gave it away.
After FHSU implemented a full-court press, ESU turned it over three times in a span of 26 seconds.
The Tigers (13-5, 6-4 MIAA) followed those giveaways with eight unanswered points, closing the gap to 59-56 with 2:15 left.
“At some point,” Tegtmeier said, “we have to start finishing off teams.”
ESU came through on its next possession, as Dustin Andrews broke free for an uncontested layup to make it 61-56.
The Hornets made 6 of 8 free throws at the end to keep their advantage.
Tegtmeier led ESU, scoring 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He also had the Hornets’ first eight points of the game.
Townsend added 19 points, while Jordan Fithian contributed 12.
ESU (11-8, 6-4 MIAA), which is tied with FHSU, now trails only 8-2 Southwest Baptist and 7-3 Missouri Southern in the MIAA standings.
ESU men 67, Fort Hays State 60
Saturday at White Auditorium
Fort Hays State 23 37 — 60
Emporia State 35 32 — 67
FORT HAYS STATE (13-5, 6-4 MIAA)
Tyrone Evans 6-20 3-4 18, Terry Jeffries 5-10 1-3 12, Jake Sims 4-6 0-0 10, Corbin Kuntzsch 3-6 0-0 6, LaTravis Turner 2-5 0-0 4, Rob Igbawua 2-4 0-2 4, Shawn Emerick 1-2 2-2 4, Tim Peintner 1-6 0-0 2, Ryan Herrman 0-1 0-0 0, Charles Robinson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 6-11 60.
EMPORIA STATE (11-8, 6-4 MIAA)
Caleb Tegtmeier 6-9 5-7 20, DeAndre Townsend 4-10 8-10 19, Jordan Fithian 5-7 1-3 12, Andrew Davison 2-6 0-0 6, Marvin Lee 2-10 1-2 5, Dustin Andrews 2-4 1-1 5, Doug Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Spencer Allen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-46 16-23 67.
3-point goals — Fort Hays State 6-21 (Evans 3-13, Sims 2-3, Jeffries 1-2, Robinson 0-2, Kuntzsch 0-1), Emporia State 9-21 (Townsend 3-4, Tegtmeier 3-6, Davison 2-5, Fithian 1-1, Andrews 0-2, Lee 0-3). Fouled out — Fort Hays State: None; Emporia State: None. Rebounds — Fort Hays State 36 (Sims 8), Emporia State 36 (Fithian 7). Assists — Fort Hays State 16 (Jeffries 7), Emporia State 14 (Townsend 5). Total fouls — Fort Hays State 21, Emporia State 12. Att — 3,424.