Davison’s ‘bad shot’ finds its mark; Hornets upend Bearcats, 65-62
By Jesse Newell
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Maryville, Mo. — Andrew Davison had heard his coach David Moe say it at least four times: “One shot! One shot! One shot! One shot!”
Still, with the game tied and 12 seconds left, the senior only had one thought when receiving the ball a few feet beyond the three-point line.
“Shoot it.”
“It was probably a bad shot that I took, but I don’t know,” Davison said. “My shot felt good all night, and I like taking big shots.”
It’s amazing what a little rule-breaking can do.
Davison drained the game-winning 24-footer with 11.2 seconds left, giving ESU a 65-62 upset victory over Northwest Missouri State at Bearcat Arena.
A few feet away, Moe said he felt strangely at ease as he watched the forbidden shot sail toward the basket.
“When he came off the screen wide open, my first thought was, ‘Let it fly,’” Moe said. “If he made it, we had a chance to win. We weren’t going to get a better chance to win.”
Northwest (13-5, 5-4 MIAA) still had an opportunity to tie it, but John Hawkins’ 3-pointer from the corner bounced hard off the rim as time expired.
Most of the Hornets threw their hands up, while Davison let out a celebratory yell in the direction of the ESU fans.
The Hornets hadn’t beaten the Bearcats since the 2003-04 season and hadn’t won at Bearcat Arena since 1997.
“Me and Bear (teammate DeAndre Townsend) always talk about making history,” Davison said. “We beat Central at Central, made the NCAA Tournament last year, went 16-0. Now, this is one thing we really wanted to do was beat Northwest at Northwest.”
Though not the most talented team Moe had brought to Maryville in the last four years, ESU came away victorious because of toughness and grit.
The Hornets, playing short-handed without the injured Wes Book, hung in with defense and three-point shooting.
ESU (10-8, 5-4 MIAA) fell behind 9-3 but quickly came back to tie it at 15 on a three by Davison. The Hornets’ first 15 points all came off three-point shots.
“We couldn’t get down too far,” ESU guard Marvin Lee said. “We had to keep our heads and keep everybody in the game.”
The Hornets faced more adversity at the 11:20 mark of the second half, as forward Caleb Tegtmeier fouled out.
Matt Withers’ two free throws capped a 9-0 run that tied the score at 45, which even had Moe wondering aloud on the sideline, “How are we going to win this game?”
His team ended up winning it by making plays late.
With the score tied at 58 and 1:56 left, Jordan Fithian bricked the first of two free throws, but when the ball hit the back iron, it floated softly up and somehow found its way into the net.
Fithian banked in his next free throw — some teammates claimed afterwards he called his shot after working on it in practice — to give ESU a 60-58 lead.
“Everything was not going to go wrong for us all year,” Moe said.
Following a Hunter Henry jumper that made it 62-all with 31 seconds left, ESU had the chance for the final shot.
Davison didn’t end up waiting for it.
“If I would have missed it, I probably would have gotten chewed out for it, but that’s fine,” Davison said. “I think everyone in there has confidence in my shot.”
Davison led ESU with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He finished 6-of-11 from behind the arc and is averaging 17.3 points over his last three games.
“Drew’s been as good as he can be,” Moe said.
Lee added 14, while Townsend had 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Fithian contributed 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
The Hornets have won three of their last four games.
“We’re coming closer,” Davison said. “It took a long time, but we’re starting to figure out how we’re all playing.
“We’re finding our groove.”
EMPORIA STATE 65, NW MISSOURI STATE 62
Wednesday at Maryville, Mo.
Emporia State 28 37 — 65
N.W. Mo. State 28 34 — 62
EMPORIA STATE (9-9, 4-5 MIAA)
Andrew Davison 7-12 0-1 20, Marvin Lee 5-11 2-2 14, DeAndre Townsend 4-14 2-2 13, Jordan Fithian 5-6 2-2 12, Dustin Andrews 1-3 0-0 3, Caleb Tegtmeier 1-2 1-1 3, Spencer Allen 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 7-8 65.
NW MISSOURI STATE (13-5, 5-4 MIAA)
Hunter Henry 7-11 4-4 19, Andy Peterson 5-10 2-3 14, Matt Withers 3-5 4-6 10, Lance Sullivan 3-10 0-0 8, Mike Larsen 1-4 2-2 5, Andrais Thornton 2-4 0-0 4, Kelvin Cayruth 1-1 0-1 2, John Hawkins 0-4 0-0 0, Elijah Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Mose Howard 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 12-16 62.
3-point goals — Emporia State 12-29 (Davison 6-11, Townsend 3-8, Lee 2-7, Andrews 1-3), NW Missouri State 6-21 (Sullivan 2-7, Peterson 2-6, Henry 1-2, Larsen 1-3, Hawkins 0-2, Howard 0-1). Fouled out — Emporia State: Tegtmeier; NW Missouri State: None. Rebounds — Emporia State 27 (Townsend 7), NW Missouri State 33 (Henry 8). Assists — Emporia State 14 (Townsend 6), NW Missouri State 11 (Hawkins, Sullivan 3). Total fouls — Emporia State 18, NW Missouri State 12. Att — 1,206.