After a successful first half, a 23 point lead helped Emporia State claim the 81-75 win over the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith on Jan. 26 in White Auditorium. 

The game started out with two ties and four lead changes in just the first six and a half minutes. It wasn’t until redshirt freshman guard Devin Conley gave the Hornets an 11-10 lead through a jumper made with 13:27 left in the half. 

UAFS attempted to get the lead and would bring the score within 16-14 with two free throws. The Hornets responded with a 20-1 run to take control of the game. Fort Smith then scored a free throw to make the score 24-15 after ESU scored eight straight points. In addition, ESU scored 12 straight points after that to go up 36-15 with 3:53 left in the first half. 

The Hornets did not allow the Lions to score for 7:46 until they scored on a put back with 3:11 left. Emporia State received their biggest lead of the half 45-21 with 32 seconds left when junior guard Malik Edwards Jr. hit a three-pointer. The halftime score was 45-22 as Fort-Smith made a free throw with 1.7 seconds left. 

Emporia State held UAFS to just seven of 25 from the field in the first half and hit 18 of 33 shots in the opening 20 minutes. Of those, six of 14 were made from outside the three-point arc.

Giving the Hornets their biggest lead of the game, Edwards scored two free throws to bring the Hornets up 47-22 with 19:20 remaining in the second. Sophomore forward Dallas Bear increased ESU’s lead with a three-pointer 50-26 followed by a 10-0 run by the Lions. Freshman guard Justin Mack and sophomore guard Arhman Lewis hit back to back three-pointers, which helped the Hornets to increase their lead by 20.

Edwards Jr. later scored with 8:00 left to widen ESU’s lead 66-47. UAFS went on another 10-0 run to get the Hornet lead under double digits since the first half.

The Lions made it a two possession game at 74-68 with 1:56 left, but Edwards, assisted by Lewis, made the score 76-68 with 1:24 left following an offensive foul from UAFS. The Lions stole the ball to bring the score to 76-70 with 39.3 seconds left. Sophomore guard Brayson Laube later passed Edwards the ball as he went up for a layup with 30.4 seconds left to bring ESU’s lead to 78-70. In the final 19.3 seconds the Hornets hit three of four free throws to secure the win against UAFS.