KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gone was the memory of the losing streaks, the season that had turned sour with a replay and a cell-phone stopwatch.
As the Emporia State Hornets celebrated at midcourt after their 83-79 victory over top-seeded Southwest Baptist, they had re-affirmed what they had said all along over the final three weeks.
What happened in the regular season would stay in the regular season.
The postseason tournament was what would matter most.
“It just feels so nice, because everyone counted us out,” Davison said. “We’re an eight seed, and we want to make history.”
The first — and perhaps most difficult — part of that history was completed on Friday, as the Hornets shocked No. 15 Southwest Baptist at Municipal Auditorium.
ESU became the first eight-seeded team since 1996 to knock off the No. 1 seed in the opening round.
“We’ve had enough heart-breaking moments this year,” ESU coach David Moe said, “that we deserved a little bit of positive.”
In a game where no team led by more than four points in the final 8 minutes, ESU’s season was resurrected by a pair of seniors that didn’t hesitate to take shots with the game on the line.
With 6 1/2 minutes left, SBU grabbed the lead at 65-62 only to have ESU’s Caleb Tegtmeier tie it up 15 seconds later with a 3-pointer from the wing.
“The game was in the balance right there,” SBU coach Jeff Guiot said. “If he misses that shot and we get the rebound, it may be a different story.”
Davison hit an even bigger shot with less than a minute to play.
SBU (21-7) took a 78-77 lead after a controversial three-point play — one where it appeared D’Ante Harris was fouled on the floor before he released a bankshot that fell through.
Davison made it a moot point.
The big-shot specialist curled off a screen with 34.5 seconds left and knocked down a 3-pointer to put ESU back on top, 80-78.
“If we miss that three and they come down and score, my college career’s over,” Davison said. “I want to play as long as I can.”
Instead of his normal celebration, Davison exhaled deeply after making the three.
He said he knew ESU still had work to do on the defensive end.
“That was probably the first time that’s ever gone through my mind,” Davison said. “We needed a big stop.”
SBU, which finished 56 percent from the field and scored at will during stretches in the second half, didn’t make crucial shots in the final seconds.
Jim Grabowski missed a three, and ESU’s DeAndre Townsend hit two free throws to extend the lead.
Dustin Andrews made the last of two free throws to give ESU a four-point advantage with just 9.3 seconds left.
“We’re here, and we’ve got nothing to lose,” Tegtmeier said. “When you have confidence, you can go a long ways.”
With senior Wes Book’s foot injury — a fracture will keep him out the rest of the season — the Hornets had to get creative to stay competitive.
Because the Hornets’ frantic passing game takes a lot of energy, ESU made a switch to better cater to its seven-man rotation.
After making a name for themselves in the MIAA with their fast and attacking offense the past few years, the Hornets settled into a slow-it-down game on Friday.
“We don’t have the depth of a lot of teams,” Moe said. “It was just more to try to do something to disrupt Baptist.”
The plan also ended up giving ESU an offensive boost.
After taking most of the time off the shot clock, the Hornets frequently used a dribble-drive to free open an outside shooter.
When the shots were there, ESU hit them, too.
The Hornets hit 50 percent of their long-range tries before halftime, tying an MIAA Tournament record in the first half with 10 made 3-pointers.
“They had a good strategy going in,” Grabowski said. “We just weren’t able to take care of it on defense.”
ESU led by as many as eight in the first half before settling into a 41-38 advantage at halftime. The Hornets scored 41 first-half points despite taking just 27 shots. Only seven of those were two-point field goal attempts.
Townsend, who honored Book by wearing the senior’s No. 12 jersey to the post-game press conference, finished with 24 points and seven assists.
Tegtmeier and Davison added 15 points, while Marvin Lee had 14 and Jordan Fithian contributed 11.
The Hornets made 16 of 32 three-point attempts. Lee was 4-for-6 from long range, while Fithian also hit two, which doubled his season output.
“I thought eventually they had to cool down a little bit,” Guiot said, “but they really didn’t.”
ESU (13-15) advanced to the semifinal round where it will face fifth-seeded Fort Hays State at 6 tonight.
The Hornets will need two more wins to earn the conference’s automatic entry into the NCAA Tournament.
Emporia State 83, Southwest Baptist 79
Friday at Kansas City, Mo.
Emporia State 41 42 — 83
No. 15 SBU 38 41 — 79
Emporia State (13-15) — DeAndre Townsend 8-14 6-9 24, Andrew Davison 5-9 1-2 15, Caleb Tegtmeier 4-6 4-6 15, Marvin Lee 4-9 2-2 14, Jordan Fithian 3-4 3-4 11, Dustin Andrews 1-5 1-2 4, Spencer Allen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-48 17-25 83.
Southwest Baptist (21-7) — Matthew Rogers 8-14 3-6 21, Jim Grabowski 7-12 0-0 18, Nick Kovacevich 7-9 0-0 16, D’Ante Harris 3-8 3-3 10, Brandon Burgette 2-5 1-2 6, Tristan Steele 2-3 0-0 5, John Tiemeyer 1-1 0-0 2, Steven Cunningham 0-1 1-2 1, Justin Brown 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-54 8-13 79.
3-point goals — Emporia State 16-32 (Davison 4-8, Lee 4-6, Tegtmeier 3-5, Fithian 2-3, Townsend 2-5, Andrews 1-5), Southwest Baptist 11-24 (Grabowski 4-6, Rogers 2-4, Kovacevich 2-3, Harris 1-5, Steele 1-2, Burgette 1-3, Brown 0-1). Fouled out — Emporia State: Lee; Southwest Baptist: None. Rebounds — Emporia State 22 (Fithian, Davison 4), Southwest Baptist 29 (Grabowski 7). Assists — Emporia State 17 (Townsend 7), Southwest Baptist 16 (Burgette, Kovacevich 6). Total fouls — Emporia State 19, Southwest Baptist 22.