Kearney, Neb. – Emporia State took advantage of 21 turnovers and went on a late 7-0 run to slip past Nebraska-Kearney, 77-69, Thursday night in Kansas.

The Hornets (5-4, 1-0) improve to 3-4 in games decided by 10 points or less while the Lopers fall to 5-6 (2-1).

In a game where UNK shot an even 50 percent (25 of 50) from the field and got a career-high 19 points from sophomore reserve forward Kyle Juhl (Harlan, Ia.), the Lopers still trailed most of the night. Some early hot shooting put Kearney up 28-20 but the Hornets closed the half on a 17-7 run to grab the lead back.

Scoring 21 points off those 21 turnovers and taking 15 more shots than the Lopers, Emporia led for most of the second half but never by more than five points until the very end.

A Juhl three tied the game at 63 with five minutes to go and then he hit two free throws a minute later to give UNK its first lead since late in the opening half. The Loper lead grew to four after a driving layup by senior guard Yashua Trent (Chicago) but then E-State made its move.

Reserve forward Garin Vandiver, son of ESU head coach Shaun Vandiver, hit a jumper at the 2:03 mark and then starting guard Grant Shell hit his only bucket of the game after a Loper miss. Shell's thee came with 1:35 to go and was followed by a UNK turnover, one of three in the final 1:15. 

That miscue led to a jumper by starting guard Brian Morton (game-high 20 points) and Kearney didn't get closer than three points the rest of the way.

"It was a very physical game. There was a lot of stuff going on when you got into the paint and it wasn't for the faint of heart," said Loper head coach Kevin Lofton. "I thought we had some costly mistakes down the stretch but I'll give it to our guys. Emporia came out very aggressive and had us on our heels but we managed to hang in there."

UNK held Emporia's one double figure scorer, All-MIAA guard Brandon Hall, in check. Averaging 18 points coming in, he tallied eight on 3 of 15 shooting. He did supply six assists and seven boards over 38 minutes.

Morton reached his point total by making 8 of 13 shots with fellow starter Stephaun Limuel having a double double (18 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks). Emporia got 27 points off its bench, including 13 from Vandiver and 10 from 6-8 forward Hassan Thomas.

"We continued to hang around in the second half and then with that run it looked like we might pull it out. But they had some guys step up and make some big plays. They made a couple of big jump shots and then we got careless with the ball on a couple of possessions," said Lofton.

Juhl was one of five Lopers to reach double figures. He was coming off a career-high 18 point performance last Saturday vs. Missouri Southern. Tonight, he was 6 of 7 (5 of 6 threes) from the field and had two steals in 26 minutes.

Next, Trent went all 40 minutes and had his first career double double (15 points and 10 assists) with Iowa senior Trey Lansman (13 points and 10 rebounds) having his third straight double double.

UNK heads to Washburn Saturday night. The Ichabods (6-3) beat Fort Hays State on Wednesday, 69-58.