DeAndre Townsend said his clutch shots weren’t falling in Saturday’s practice session. At least not right away.
“I kind of started off slow, just like tonight,” Townsend said after his team’s 76-72 overtime victory over Missouri Western on Sunday, “(but) I eventually hit them.”
Things turned out to be the same for him a day later.
Though it took the senior a try to get warmed up, he eventually was able to hit ESU’s biggest shot on Sunday at White Auditorium.
With his team trailing 62-59, Townsend missed a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left, but Western’s Ray Brown traveled after getting the rebound.
Townsend made his second one count.
With a hand in his face, Townsend knocked down a three from the left wing with 26.4 seconds left to tie the score at 62.
“My teammates, my coaching staff, my team, they look forward to me hitting big shots,” Townsend said. “They look forward to me making big plays.”
Western’s Ken Goodwin missed a 10-foot runner that would have won it in regulation, and the Hornets came out strong in the overtime.
ESU scored nine points on its first three possessions in the extra frame, as Caleb Tegtmeier and Andrew Davison knocked down threes and Townsend added a three-point play to make it 71-67.
With 24 seconds left, Townsend hit a pair of free throws to push the Hornets’ lead to 76-72.
After two missed threes by Western, it was over.
“I thought Western dominated the game,” ESU coach David Moe said. “We just hung in there, and in overtime, we made a little run.”
ESU trailed 57-49 with 7:42 left before Townsend started to carry his team.
Starting with a pair of free throws, Townsend scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the final 7:02 and overtime.
“My opportunities, my days are numbered here being a senior, playing at home in front of my home crowd,” Townsend said. “I love to play in front of them. I try to give them a treat night in and night out.”
It was the first victory of the season for ESU without the services of Wes Book.
The senior guard, who is the team’s second-leading scorer, is sitting out with a sprained foot.
Before Sunday, ESU was 0-2 without him, losing by a combined 33 points in those games.
One player who stepped up in his absence was his Emporia High School teammate, Spencer Allen.
The guard, despite being only 6-foot-2, pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. At one point in the second half, he had half of the Hornets’ 14 rebounds in the game.
“Western’s the type of team to not really block out. I love it when teams don’t do that. They rely on their athleticism,” Allen said. “When teams rely on their athleticism, it’s a free-for-all. It makes it so easy for the short guys that have a feel for where the ball’s going to go to get rebounds.”
Allen hadn’t grabbed more than three rebounds in any other game this season.
“Obviously, he was terrific,” Moe said. “He did a great job. He chased a lot of balls down.”
The Hornets finished 24-of-36 from the free-throw line, while the Griffons were just 9-for-15.
ESU also made its share of treys, connecting on 10 of 23 shots from long range (44 percent). Davison was 4-for-7, while Townsend was 3-for-7, which included the game-tying shot.
“You might say it’s kind of expected,” Allen said. “He always steps up and makes big shots. He puts you on his back, and you kind of rely on him.”
Tegtmeier and Davison contributed 15 points each for ESU.
ESU men 76, Missouri Western 72
Saturday at White Auditorium
1 2 OT
Mo. Western 31 31 10 — 72
Emporia State 29 33 14 — 76
MISSOURI WESTERN (8-9, 2-6 MIAA) — Lonnel Johnson 7-21 2-2 19, Reggie Bunch 8-10 1-5 17, Jay McFarland 4-6 4-6 12, Ray Brown 3-7 2-2 10, Ken Goodwin 3-10 0-0 8, Keion Kindred 1-4 0-0 2, Luke Anderson 1-2 0-0 2, Kyle Kirschner 1-3 0-0 2, Mike Sylvara 0-0 0-0 0, Gus Moss 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 9-15 72.
EMPORIA STATE (9-8, 4-4 MIAA) — DeAndre Townsend 5-12 8-9 21, Caleb Tegtmeier 3-6 7-7 15, Andrew Davison 4-7 3-4 15, Marvin Lee 2-6 3-10 7, Jordan Fithian 3-7 1-3 7, Dustin Andrews 2-4 1-1 6, Spencer Allen 1-1 1-2 3, Doug Moore 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-45 24-36 76.
3-point goals — Missouri Western 7-22 (Johnson 3-9, Goodwin 2-4, Brown 2-4, Kindred 0-3, Kirschner 0-1, Moss 0-1), Emporia State 10-23 (Davison 4-7, Townsend 3-7, Tegtmeier 2-4, Andrews 1-3, Lee 0-2). Fouled out — Missouri Western: Goodwin; Emporia State: None. Rebounds — Missouri Western 39 (Bunch 9), Emporia State 29 (Allen 9). Assists — Missouri Western 18 (Kindred 7), Emporia State 15 (Fithian, Davison 4). Total fouls — Missouri Western 27, Emporia State 13. Att — 2,096.
emporia (anonymous) says...
Bear, I love to watch you play! You make every game GREAT. I am very sad that you are a senior and feel very cheated to have had the opportunity to watch you for only two years. I love our Hornets and you make it so much fun and exciting. Thanks so much.
January 28, 2008 at 9:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )