Emporia, Kan. -- Taevaunn Prince had his seventh 30-point game of the season and
Austin Wright scored a season-high 26 as the Missouri Southern men's basketball team defeated Emporia State 102-97 in overtime tonight inside White Auditorium.
Southern (13-9, 10-6 MIAA) was led by Prince's 31-point effort. He went 10-15 from the field and 11-15 from the free throw line, adding 14 rebounds and seven assists. The 11 free throws give him 213 this season and he is just 40 from breaking the MIAA single-season record of 252.
Wright scored 26 points on 8-16 from the field and 6-11 from long-range, while both
Taylor Luster and
DJ Feitl had 11 points each. Luster added five assists. The six three's for Wright give him 243 in his career.
Emporia (9-12, 6-9 MIAA) was led by 25 points from Terrence Moore as four Hornets scored in double-figures.
The Hornets led 11-6 early on after a pair of free throws from Charles McKinney with 15:45 left in the first half. The Lions, however, went on a 8-3 run and led 14-13 with 13:37 to go after a layup from Prince.
A three from Wright with ten minutes left made the score 26-20, Lions, and a jumper from Feitl with 6:49 to go gave Southern a 33-26 lead. Emporia tied it up at 35 with four minutes left and both teams traded baskets with the Lions leading 47-41 at the break.
Emporia opened up a 56-49 lead with 15:03 left in the second half, but the Lions went on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes and a Wright three gave Southern a 63-58 lead with ten to play. ESU led by as many as four with 3:40 to play and the Lions led 85-83 with 23 seconds left, but a layup from the Hornets with just under four seconds forced overtime.
In the overtime period, Southern jumped out to a 93-88 lead with 3:17 to go, and a three from Wright made the score 98-92 with just over a minute. A free throw from Prince provided the final points for MSSU.
The Lions shot 59 percent from the field and 50 percent from long range. Southern hit 71 percent of its free throws.
Southern will be back in action on Saturday as the Lions travel to Washburn. Tip off from Lee Arena is slated for 7 pm.
