Vincent Ateba scored a career-high 25 points tonight, but Emporia State fought back and erased a seven-point Missouri Southern lead in the second half, and defeated the Lions 71-66 in Emporia.
Southern (14-2, 4-2 MIAA) led by seven just two minutes into the second half after a layup from Ateba made the score 39-32. The Hornets, though, went on an 11-3 run to take a one point lead (43-42) after a three pointer from Robert Moores at the 15 minute mark.
The Lions took a one-point lead (46-45) but both teams traded buckets before Emporia led by one (50-51) with 9:30 left in the game. From that point, the Hornets went on an 8-0 run to take a nine-point lead after a layup from Adam Holthaus with six minutes left. A layup from the Hornets’ Jeremiah Box with 1:15 left gave Emporia a six point lead, but a pair of free throws from both DaRell Crittendon and Price cut the lead to just two with 39 seconds left.
Emporia came into the game averaging 59 percent from the free-throw line, but shot 79 percent from the charity stripe tonight, including six freebies in the final 25 seconds to seal the win.
Ateba went 11-17 from the field and picked up a double-double with a game-high 25 points and ten rebounds. Bowlin had 11 points and five assists.
The Lions will be back in action this Saturday, January 10 when they play host to Washburn University at 7:30 pm in the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. The Ichabods are coming off a huge win, defeating previously undefeated and second ranked Southwest Baptist 83-72 tonight in Topeka.
