Box Score

Emporia, Kan. - The Bearcats shot a season high 62.8% from the field and 69.2% from beyond the arc on route to a 77-65 victory at Emporia State on Wednesday night. With the victory, the Bearcats have won 10 of their last 12 games and clinch a berth into the MIAA Postseason Tournament.

The Hornets of Emporia State came out strong to start the game, taking an early 17-8 lead before the Bearcats would start to respond. The Bearcats would go on a 12-0 run to give SBU a 20-17 lead, and would go into the half up 31-29. The Bearcats came out strong in the second half, pushing their lead to double-digits halfway through the second half before going on to the 77-65 victory.

Ryan Dougherty continues to play extremely well for the Bearcats, scoring a game high 24 points off of 7 of 11 shooting from the field, and 7 of 7 shooting from the free throw line, as well as dishing out 7 assists in the victory. Daveion Zellner and Kyle Sloan each scored 13 points, as the Bearcats shot lights out the entire night. As a team, SBU had season high's in field goal percentage (62.8%), three point field goal percentage (69.2%), and free throw percentage (87.5%). The Bearcats out-rebounded the Hornets 26-16, and dished out 18 assists in the victory.

"It was a team effort," head coach Jeff Guiot commented after the victory. "I was really proud of how we came out after halftime. We came out and established ourselves and got a good lead. Ryan [Dougherty] was just special tonight. 24 points, 7 assists, and only 1 turnover in 31 minutes played. I am really proud of this team. We were as efficient on offense as we've been in a while, and we shot the ball extremely well."

The Bearcats will continue their road trip when they travel to Topeka, Kansas to take on Washburn University on Saturday, February 11. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m.