It was the time when the Emporia State men started to play with some energy — when the momentum started to swing, the deficit reached a manageable eight points and White Auditorium seemed like it was waiting to erupt — when the Hornets couldn’t come up with the shot they needed.
It’s not like ESU didn’t have a whole bunch of chances either.
After trimming a 17-point deficit to eight with 5:11 left, ESU missed on its next nine shots — four threes, four twos and a free throw — to kill its chances of coming back in No. 14 Pittsburg State’s 72-63 victory Saturday at White Auditorium.
“It just seemed like we would get so close and then we were just one bucket shy of getting over the hump,” ESU guard DeAndre Townsend said, “and getting to where we needed to get to to win this game.”
ESU (6-7, 1-3 MIAA) would get the deficit down to five on two occasions in the final 2 1/2 minutes but couldn’t get any closer.
The game took a backseat, though, with 2:47 left in the game after an ugly incident on PSU’s side of the court.
ESU’s Wes Book tried to dive in on top of PSU’s Michael Hutchingson during a loose-ball situation.
“He didn’t really like that,” Book said. “He kind of elbowed me, and I kind of elbowed him. Things just escalated from there.”
Both teams’ players exchanged shoves, and before long, some of PSU’s bench players made their way onto the court to participate in the fight.
One PSU fan even jumped down from the stands to try to get involved. He was later escorted from the arena by police.
After the teams were separated, the officials used the replay monitor to determine who had left PSU’s bench during the fracas.
Aaron Jackson, Chris Roe, Nathan Lang and Spencer Magana all were ejected with PSU leading, 66-57, but no technical fouls were handed out.
“Unfortunately, it happened in front of Pitt State’s bench, and a couple of their guys came off,” Book said. “I’m sure if it would have happened in front of our bench, the same thing would have happened.”
ESU had a pair of players start to leave the bench area before they were corralled by coaches.
Though the Hornets came up short in the second half, they realistically lost the game in the first 20 minutes.
PSU (11-2, 2-2 MIAA) controlled the pace, forcing ESU to play defense for long stretches, which also limited the Hornets’ transition game.
“The mindset in the first half ... I don’t think we all came out ready to compete right away,” Townsend said. “They just dug in. They played more as a team. They fought and made the 50-50 plays — the hustle plays.”
The Gorillas also took advantage of their overwhelming size inside, out-rebounding ESU, 23-13, in the first half. PSU attempted 10 more shots (36-26) in the opening frame on its way to a comfortable 42-29 halftime lead.
“They’re so big, strong, athletic, it’s definitely hard,” Townsend said, “but we’re capable of doing it night in, night out. It’s nothing we can’t stop.”
After picking up its pressure defense — and also hitting three consecutive threes — ESU cut the deficit to 53-46 with 11:17 left.
PSU answered with a 9-2 run, and the Hornets never were able to hit the shots they needed to get back into it.
“There’s no margin for error then,” ESU coach David Moe said. “Did we fight hard? Yeah. But we’ve got to come out like we did against Washburn and want it from the get-go.”
The Hornets were held back by their worst offensive performance of the year, posting season-lows in first-half points (29), second-half points (34) and total points (63).
ESU, which came in shooting 41 percent from the three-point line, made just 6 of 31 long-range shots (19 percent).
Townsend led ESU with 19 points, while Jordan Fithian added 14.
PSU was led by 6-foot-7 Cory Abercrombie, who had 21 points and 15 rebounds. The senior helped the Gorillas win the rebounding battle, 47-33.
ESU shot just 36 percent (23-of-64) from the floor.
Pitts. State men 72, Emporia State 63
Saturday at White Auditorium
No. 14 Pittsburg State 42 30 — 72
Emporia State 29 34 — 63
PITTSBURG STATE (11-2, 2-2 MIAA)
Cory Abercrombie 8-16 5-6 21, Keith Windom 5-13 3-4 15, Michael Hutchingson 4-10 2-2 12, Carlos Taylor 3-8 4-4 11, Jeff Ivory 3-3 1-1 7, Chris Roe 1-4 0-0 3, Aaron Jackson 1-3 0-0 2, Spencer Magana 0-0 1-2 1, Justin McCoy 0-1 0-0 0, Nathan Lang 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 16-19 72.
EMPORIA STATE (6-7, 1-3 MIAA)
DeAndre Townsend 6-16 4-4 19, Jordan Fithian 5-7 4-8 14, Wes Book 4-12 0-2 9, Dustin Andrews 3-7 1-3 8, Caleb Tegtmeier 3-9 1-1 7, Marvin Lee 1-7 1-2 3, Andrew Davison 1-5 0-0 3, Matt Boswell 0-1 0-0 0, Spencer Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Pyle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-64 11-20 63.
3-point goals — Pittsburg State 6-19 (Windom 2-5, Hutchingson 2-3, Taylor 1-4, Roe 1-4, McCoy 0-1, Lang 0-1, Jackson 0-1), Emporia State 6-31 (Townsend 3-10, Davison 1-3, Andrews 1-3, Book 1-6, Boswell 0-1, Lee 0-2, Tegtmeier 0-6). Fouled out — Pittsburg State: None; Emporia State: Lee. Rebounds — Pittsburg State 47 (Abercrombie 15), Emporia State 33 (Book 7). Assists — Pittsburg State 14 (Windom 5), Emporia State 11 (Townsend 4). Total fouls — Pittsburg State 22, Emporia State 20. Att — 2733.