After coming off a win against Lincoln University Friday night, the Hornets advanced to the MIAA semi finals. They were the fourth seed playing against Northwest Missouri State, the first seed, on Saturday.  

Tip off was at noon on Saturday and the Hornets would start with the ball, but the Bearcats scored first. Junior guard Alijah Comithier would be the first to score for ESU after rebounding sophomore special forward Peyton Rogers-Schmidt’s missed three.  

Within the first four minutes ESU was down by seven. The team then had a strong enough run to close the gap to one point, then continued to tie the game up five times toward the end of the first half.  

Rogers-Schimdt and redshirt sophomore Mayuom Buom each had a dunk before the half was over.  

By halftime, Northwest led 28-26. 

Coming right out of the half, Buom scored a layup, tying the game again. Northwest answered, however, with Buom scoring again, tying the game at 30. Sophomore guard, Kaden Evans, was fouled on a fast break and made one of his free throws, which gave the Hornets the lead in the game for the first time at 31-30. Northwest would take the lead back, and the Hornets never caught up again. 

The final score was 63-52, Hornets losing by 11.  

This was the first time in 417 games that Emporia State did not make a single three, according to the ESU Athletics website.  

The Hornets have also announced they made it to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007, after having a 22-8 season. The men will play at 10 p.m. on Sunday March 12 in Maryville, MO.