Emory University sophomore Corey Spraggins scored 14 of his
career-high 19 points in the second half and sophomore Austin
Claunch and freshman Alex Greven contributed 18 points apiece in
leading Emory to a win at Huntingdon College. The Eagles
raised their mark to 2-0 following a 91-82 come-from-behind
decision over the Hawks who slipped to 1-3.
Spraggins finished the evening hitting six-of-nine from the floor,
four-of-five in the second half, along with seven-of-nine free
throw opportunities. He also pulled down a personal-best 10
rebounds and in the process notched his first double-double.
Emory connected on 49.2 percent of its field goal attempts
(25-of-59) while Huntingdon posted a 39.7 percent (27-of-68)
effort. The Eagles knocked down 36.8 percent (7-of-19) of
their attempts from three-point range and enjoyed a 43-39 edge in
the rebounding department.
Huntingdon raced out to a 7-0 lead just 1:40 into the contest
before Emory regrouped and eventually built a pair of 10-point
leads, the last being a 31-21 bulge with 6:44 remaining in the
first half following a basket by Chad Hixon. A basket by
Greven gave the Eagles a 35-27 edge with 4:37 left but the Hawks
closed out the opening stanza with a 17-5 burst to take a 44-40
lead at halftime. Greven scored 13 points during the opening
20 minutes of action, hitting four-of-six from the floor including
three-of-four from beyond the arc while Hixon added 10 points to
the cause. Emory did shoot a keen 53.3 percent in the first
half and hit four trey's to Huntingdon's one, but the Hawks were
able to turn 12 Eagle turnovers into 19 points.
Emory took the lead briefly early in the second half at 49-48
following a three-pointer by Claunch, but the Hawks edged ahead by
a 52-49 count with 14:56 on the clock. Emory then went on a
9-0 tear, keyed by four points by Spraggins, a bucket by Claunch
and a three-point by freshman Michael Friedberg to assume a 58-52
lead with 12:55 on the clock. A jumper by Hixon with 6:51
remaining gave the Eagles their second 11-point advantage of the
half. The Hawks cut the deficit to four points with 1:49 left
but Spraggins scored Emory's next six points to push the cushion
back to double digits, 88-78, with 53 ticks on the clock.
Emory outscored Huntingdon, 51-38, in the second half of action, a
big part of that coming on the defensive end of the floor where
they limited the hosts to just 33.3 percent from the field.
Hixon rounded out the team's double-figure scorers with 15 points
while grabbing seven rebounds.
NOTES - Emory's 91 points is the seventh time
during head coach Jason Zimmerman's tenure as head coach that it
has scored 90 or more points in a game ...Hixon's 15 points marked
his 17th career performance out of 26 games that he has
scored in double figures ... Emory has started the season 2-0 for
the first time since the 2004-05 campaign.
