Emporia State split its doubleheader against Northwest Missouri to end the regular season at Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo. on Saturday.
In the men’s game, ESU never trailed on the way to a 70-51 victory splitting their season series with the Bearcats. The Hornets took a 19-11 lead early in the game. Northwest trimmed it down to one, but ESU went on a 14-3 run late to build their lead to 12 and lead 42-32 at the break. ESU was able to expand the lead to 18 with under two minutes to go as Northwest finished 0-10 at Bearcat Arena to end the season. Head coach Tom Billeter was ecstatic for his team.
Karyiek Dixon scored 20 points with a career high 15 rebounds. Chris Harris added 17 points. He said, after seeing the tournament but not playing last year as a redshirt, he’s ready to make his MIAA Madness debut.
ESU finishes 11-17 (8-11 MIAA) and based on the final KPI standings on faktorsports.com receives the No. 9 seed into the MIAA Tournament and will face No. 8 Central Oklahoma in the first round. Tip-off is set for noon with pregame coverage at 11:30 a.m. on the Hornet Sports Network/Mix 104.9.
In the women’s game, the Lady Hornets never led and fell 70-51 to Northwest Missouri State to split their season series with the Bearcats. ESU finished just 3-for-16 from the field in the first quarter and never trailed by fewer than 14 in the second half. Katie Horyna led ESU with 16 points. Head coach Brian Ostermann said Northwest played a terrific game.
ESU wraps up the regular season 10-18 and 5-14 in the MIAA. Based on the final KPI standings on faktorsports.com, Emporia State gets into the MIAA Tournament by four KPI points over Central Oklahoma who fell to Northeastern State on the final day of the regular season. The No. 10 seed Lady Hornets draw No. 7 Central Missouri in the last game of day one beginning at 8:15 p.m. Coverage is set for 7:45 p.m. on the Hornet Sports Network/Mix 104.9.
