EMPORIA, KS. - Men's Basketball returned to the court on Wednesday evening, heading to Emporia State for the first game of 2024. 

The Jets were riding a two game win streak, winning their both games on their home court before the break. Their last win was an overtime thriller against Fort Hays State, which the Jets went on to win 77-75. 

The Jets have yet to win a game on the road this season, and looked to get their first against the Hornets. 

With the Hornets hitting back to back threes to open the game, it took the Jets several minutes to get into the game. Whenever the Jets would come up with a big play, the Hornets always seemed to respond and go ahead by even more. 

The Jets would get the game down to three points, but it would be the closest they would come to a touching distance of the lead. As the Hornets grew the lead to over ten, the Jets started to lose some of their edge. 

With the Hornets taking a near 20 point lead into half, Stevie Strong continued to go to work after the half, knocking down five points in a quick span. His outstanding effort tonight was not enough, as the Hornets would go on to win 

Strong finished with a team high 24 points, which included five three pointers, scoring almost half of all three pointers during the night. 

Some of the Jets main players were held to little against a good Hornets defense, in what was a game the team will want to put behind them. 

The Jets fall to 3-4 in conference play and will look to rebound against the Ichabods of Washburn on Saturday.