Emporia State brought home both basketball wins in close games against the University of Central Oklahoma on Sunday. The Lady Hornets beat UCO 60-58 on Senior Sunday while the ESU men’s team finished 74-65 against the Bronchos.
Early in the game, the Lady Hornets fell behind Central Oklahoma and fell within only 10 points, 5-15, with 2:45 left in the first quarter.Freshman guard Elizabeth Tjaden pulled the Lady Hornets within 15-11 heading into the second quarter with back to back three-pointers.
Freshman guard Jayla Cornelius scored a basket with 8:09 left in the second quarter to help the Hornets lead 17-15 during a 12-0 run. Scoring her tenth point of the second quarter, Cornelius made a lay-up with 5:06 left in the half, which brought the Hornets a 27-21 lead. ESU did not score the rest of the half and missed their next seven shots, allowing the Bronchos an 11-0 run to take the lead back 32-27 at the half.
Graduate student guard Katie Horyna made her first point of the game with a put back in the third quarter and ESU would not score again until four minutes later off of Horyna’s two free throws with 5:46 left. The Bronchos also struggled to score, and only made five points of their own in that time to lead 37-31. UCO began to pull ahead 37-31 and later 45-36 with 1:07 left in the third quarter, but Horyna would score with 46 seconds left in the quarter to bring up the score 39-45.
Both teams failed to score for three minutes before Horyna hit a three-pointer with 7:48 left to get the Lady Hornets within 45-42. The game was tied at 46 with 6:31 left due to Tjaden hitting a three-pointer. The Hornets and Bronchos went back and forth until the score was tied again, this time at 53. The Bronchos broke the tie, before Tjaden responded with a bucket inside the paint to pull the Hornets up 55-54 with 1:51 left.
The Bronchos later led again 56-55, but Horyna’s two free throws after fouling pulled ESU back in the lead 57-56. The next possession, Cornelius stole the ball and allowed junior guard Gracie Gilpin to hit a three-pointer with 48.9 seconds remaining, giving ESU a 60-56 lead. The Bronchos came within two points of the Lady Hornets 60-58, and Cornelius took a three-pointer only for the Bronchos to get the rebound. With only 2.1 seconds left in the game, UCO called a timeout and later failed to make their final three-pointer as the time expired, earning the Lady Hornets their second straight win.
In the starting minutes of the men’s basketball game, both teams struggled to score. At the first media timeout, the Hornets would only lead by 2 at 8-6. Sophomore guard Arhman Lewis hit a free throw following the timeout, giving ESU a 9-6 lead, but UCO responded with a 7-0 run to lead 13-9 by 13:21. ESU scored the next six points and took the lead back to make the score 15-13 thanks to freshman guard Justin Mack. The Bronchos tied the score at 15 until sophomore guard Chris Harris took a quick three-pointer to give ESU the lead 18-15. The Hornets would retain the lead for the rest of the game.
Due to the birth of his daughter, junior forward Parker Day made his first appearance of the season Sunday, stealing and feeding the ball to sophomore guard Brayson Laube for a lay-up. Laube widened the Hornets’ lead 24-17 with 6:09 left in the half. By the end of the half, the Bronchos had scored a 9-4 run and brought the score within 28-30 at the half.
A three-pointer from junior guard Malik Edwards Jr. and a lay-up from Laube made up the first five points of the second half and took the score to 35-28. UCO and ESU would go back and forth, including UCO getting within a point twice in four minutes. The Hornets led 42-39 with 14:46 left in the game and another Edwards three-pointer later brought ESU to a 54-45 lead. However, the Bronchos scored the next five points to make it 54-50 with 7:13 left in the half.
With 6:45 left, Harris pushed the Hornet’s lead back to six points but the Bronchos answered to shrink the lead by three. ESU went on 12-4 run that gave them a 68-57 lead with two minutes left and they closed out the game with a 74-65 win.
Both teams will be back in action on Thursday, Feb. 6. in away games against Pittsburg State. Tipoff for the Lady Hornets is set for 5:30 p.m. with men’s to follow at 7:30 p.m.
