Emporia State built a 16-point lead and held on for a 73-66 victory over Central Christian College on Tuesday night in White Auditorium.

The Hornets scored the first five points of the game and never trailed. A fast break dunk by Terrence Sardin, senior forward, increased their lead to 16-6 with 14:18 left in the first half. The Tigers would come within three to trail 25-22 with 6:47 left in the half. The Hornets then went on an 11-0 run to go back up by 14 points with 3:47 remaining before going into the break with a 38-27 lead.

Garin Vandiver, junior forward, gave the Hornets their biggest lead, hitting a three-pointer which put them up 45-29 with 16:59 left in the game. Central Christian broke down the lead to come within 61-57 with 7:38 remaining. The Tigers trailed by three with 3:57 left before Brian Morton, junior guard, and Brandon Hall, sophomore guard, combined to score the final seven points for Emporia State in a 7-3 run to close the game.

Jay Temaat, senior guard, led the Hornets with 15 points on five of nine shooting from behind the three-point arc. Tyler Jordan, senior guard, followed with 13 points, Hall added 12 and Vandiver put up an additional ten. Statistics were provided by Emporia State.

Emporia State (3-5) will travel to Nebraska-Kearney for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off on Dec. 8 at the Health and Sports Center.