HAYS — It was a good run while it lasted.
For seven days, Emporia State sat atop the MIAA, thanks to five comeback wins in six games. The formula was pretty simple: The Hornets would hang around and not get too far behind, and when it came time to make a run, they would pick up their defense and ride a couple of hot shooters to victory.
On Wednesday night at Fort Hays State, the Hornets hung around — trailing by only two at halftime — but the defensive stops just didn’t happen, and one hot shooter was not enough. The Tigers won 78-68, and the Hornets (13-4, 7-3) are back in a tie for second place in the MIAA.
“We let them get too many easy baskets,” ESU guard Lamar Wilbern said. “We weren’t making plays defensively. Then we don’t make shots. We just need to man up, play defense and get stops. I didn’t think that team was that good, honestly. But once again we came out not competing and lost tonight.”
At White Auditorium, the Hornets have been able to overcome the propensity to start off slow. Three of the five comeback wins were at home and the other two were on the road against the bottom two teams in the conference — Pittsburg State and Truman State.
Wednesday marked the beginning of a three-game road trip and run of six of eight on the road, where slow starts are a formula for failure.
“Being at home a lot of those games, you get that extra umph,” Wilbern said. “We’re just soft, man. We’ve got to stop (getting off to slow starts). We’re not going to beat nobody. It’s obvious we’re going to be soft; we’re going to let you get a lead and then we’re going to try to scrap our way back into it. That’s what we do every game.
“So if we can man up and just compete, play, stay in the game the whole game and then take it at the end, you don’t lose.”
The Hornets were in the game until the Tigers went on a 14-2 run in the second half that gave them a 14-point lead at the 9:32 mark. Emporia State missed five shots during the Tigers’ run, including two 3-pointers.
The Hornets have been the epitome of the cliche, “live by the three, die by the three.” They are 6-0 this season when shooting 50 percent or better from beyond the arc. They made only 9-of-28 against the Tigers, many of the misses coming on open looks.
“For the most part I think offensively we just couldn’t make shots, which carried over to defense,” ESU guard Tim Niles said. “It was hard to guard them on defense when you’re not making shots, because you go back on the defensive end worrying about the last shot you didn’t make. ... We didn’t make shots and we made mistakes defensively.”
Niles was the only Hornet to catch fire in the second half. He cut the Tigers’ lead from 13 to seven with two straight 3-pointers. The Hornets had a chance to cut into the lead even more, but Alex Pyle missed a wide open 3-pointer on the next possession.
Once the Tigers went up 14, the Hornets cut the lead to seven on three different occasions, and then got the ball back with a chance to get closer, but failed to do so each time.
Once Niles got hot, FHSU guard Tyrone Evans did not let him get loose again to get a good look.
“They started to realize, I guess I was hot for two shots,” Niles said. “I would have thought the rest of the team would have put more effort into it. We did, but at the same time, it’s kind of hard looking at one person just to score. I think we should have at the end of the game been more as a team instead of like an individual.”
Wilbern added, “We’ve got to do a better job of riding the hot man. There were times we couldn’t get him the ball, and that comes from not knowing how to play off each other, which we usually do a good job of.”
The Hornets came into Wednesday’s game as the only team in the MIAA with a winning record on the road. They now sit at 2-2 on the road, and to get back on track Saturday at Northwest Missouri, the formula is simple.
“If we’re not making shots, we can’t afford to make mistakes defensively,” ESU coach David Moe said. “It’s tough to go on the road in this league and not play well and expect to win. Your only chance to win is go out and play well. You cannot afford to make that many mistakes and not have it come back to hurt you in the end.”
Wednesday at Gross Memorial Coliseum
Emporia State 32 36 — 68
Fort Hays State 34 44 — 78
EMPORIA STATE (13-4, 7-3 MIAA)
Niles 4-7 2-2 14, Holthaus 4-6 5-7 13, Wilbern 5-10 0-0 12, Box 4-13 3-4 12, Moores 3-9 1-3 8, Boswell 1-2 0-0 3, Ping 0-2 2-4 2, Pyle 0-3 2-2 2, Andrews 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 21-55 17-24 68.
FORT HAYS STATE (12-5, 5-5)
Peintner 6-9 4-5 18, Kuntzsch 4-9 6-8 15, Jeffries 3-5 5-6 11, Washington 4-4 2-2 10, Herrman 4-7 1-2 9, Blake 2-4 3-4 7, Evans 1-6 3-4 6, Robinson 1-3 0-0 2, Igbawua 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-48 24-31 78.
3-point goals — Emporia State 9-28 (Niles 4-5, Wilbern 2-4, Box 1-8, Boswell 1-2, Moores 1-4, Andrews 0-2, Pyle 0-3), Fort Hays State 4-12 (Peintner 2-4, Evans 1-5, Kuntzsch 1-2, Robinson 0-1). Fouled out — Emporia State: Wilbern; Fort Hays State: None. Rebounds — Emporia State 30 (Box 7), Fort Hays State 36 (Kuntzsch 9). Assists — Emporia State 12 (Moores 4), Fort Hays State 16 (Jeffries 9). Total fouls — Emporia State 21, Fort Hays State 20. Att. — 2,635.