On Saturday, Emporia State experienced a rout at the hands of Southwest Baptist.
On Wednesday night at White Auditorium, the Hornets had a revival.
Emporia State used some new-found patience and good, old-fashioned man-to-man defense to upset No. 12 Missouri Southern, 71-66, rebounding from a 35-point loss to Southwest Baptist.
“It’s huge, because our morale could have went way down after getting obliterated at home,” Lamar Wilbern said. “This showed we can fight through adversity.”
The Hornets also showed they could fight through some pressure. There was plenty of it on them, considering a second straight loss at home could have ruined any chances of finishing near the top of the MIAA with four of their next five on the road.
They also had to deal with the pressure applied by Missouri Southern, which includes 40 minutes of full-court, trapping, pressure defense all over the court.
“One of the best pressure teams I’ve ever played against,” Jeremiah Box said.
The Lions came into the game forcing a league-best 20.5 turnovers. Emporia State struggled early to deal with the pressure defense, committing 10 turnovers in the first half that led to 10 points for the Lions, who led 34-32 at half.
“They want to speed you up and get you going,” Wilbern said. “So we wanted to take our time, work our offense.”
The Hornets had shown some patience in the first half, not panicking when Southern went on 9-0, 5-0 and 6-0 runs. That had not been the case in league losses to Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist. When the offense had stalled in those games, the Hornets would revert to playing one-on-one, instead of letting the offense work.
“We just started trying to score every time we got the ball in our hands,” ESU coach David Moe said.
The Hornets never lost their patience against the Lions, who excel when opponents play hurried and take quick shots. The Lions struggle scoring in the halfcourt, and the Hornets were fine with playing a halfcourt game, milking the shot clock and waiting for an open shot.
“We were just taking our time,” Box said. "We’ve got to not worry about rushing our shots or who’s making shots. We’ve just got to play as a team and we’ll make our shots.”
The Hornets made a good share of their shots in the second half, shooting 58.3 percent from the field and making 10-of-14 free throws.
Trailing by six early in the second half, the Hornets made four straight shots and went on a 9-2 run, taking the lead on a Robert Moores 3-pointer. Moores, who was experiencing back pain, had to leave the game after his 3-pointer, and he never returned.
Matt Boswell took Moores’ place, and after Keane Thomann gave the Lions a 46-45 lead, Boswell hit a leaner from the baseline to give the Hornets back the lead, which they would never relinquish.
Boswell had scored six points in six conference games, but he scored eight points against the Lions — all coming in the second half.
“I know I’m a spot-minute guy,” Boswell said. "Even though I start, I know Rob and Tim (Niles) give us a big boost off the bench and a big spark. When I’m out there, I just try to be productive, score a few buckets and get my teammates involved and just play smart.”
The Hornets’ heady play, Boswell, Wilbern and Box made the difference once the Hornets took the lead. Wilbern scored the next four points for ESU after Boswell's go-ahead basket.
When the Lions cut Emporia State's lead to five with 3:45 left, Wilbern answered with a putback of his own miss to push the lead back to seven. He also made four free throws down the stretch and finished with a team-high 17 points after missing four of his first five shots in the first half.
“I had some good looks the first half,” Wilbern said. “What I didn’t want to do was shoot us out of the game. I didn’t want to force it, so I just waited for my opportunity, and my teammates made some plays that enabled me to get open looks.”
Wilbern and Box closed the game for Emporia State, preventing Missouri Southern from ever having a shot to tie it down the stretch by making eight straight free throws.
With the win, the Hornets moved into a tie with Washburn for second place in the MIAA at 5-2. But it wasn’t the records that concerned the Hornets after the game. They wanted everyone to know they had made a statement by bouncing back from the SBU loss with a win over the 12th-ranked team in the country.
“We’re not a pushover,” Wilbern said. “Last game was last game. Tonight, we showed that you're going to have to beat us. We’re not going to roll over.”
Wednesday at White Auditorium
Missouri Southern 34 32 — 66
Emporia State 32 39 — 71
MISSOURI SOUTHERN (14-2, 4-2 MIAA)
Ateba 11-17 3-4 25, Bowlin 5-10 0-0 11, Price 2-5 3-4 7, Crittendon 2-6 3-5 7, Monroe 3-4 0-0 6, Adams 3-8 0-0 6, Thomann 1-2 0-0 2, Scruggs 1-3 0-0 2, Webb 0-2 0-0 0, Hester 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 9-13 66.
EMPORIA STATE (11-3, 5-2 MIAA)
Wilbern 6-13 5-6 17, Box 4-9 5-5 14, Boswell 4-5 0-2 8, Ping 4-6 0-1 8, Niles 1-3 4-4 6, Holthaus 3-7 0-0 6, Moores 2-4 0-0 5, Andrews 2-2 1-1 5, Pyle 1-2 0-0 2, Allen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-51 15-19 71.
3-point goals — Missouri Southern 1-13 (Bowlin 1-5, Price 0-2, Crittendon 0-2, Adams 0-2, Webb 0-1, Hester 0-1), Emporia State 2-9 (Box 1-3, Moores 1-1, Niles 0-1, Pyle 0-1, Wilbern 0-3). Fouled out — Missouri Southern: None; Emporia State: Andrews. Rebounds — Missouri Southern 29 (Ateba 10), Emporia State 29 (Box 5, Wilbern 5). Assists — Missouri Southern 19 (Bowlin 5), Emporia State 18 (Box 4). Total fouls — Missouri Southern 22, Emporia State 18. Att. — 1,984.