The Emory men's basketball team saw a rally from a 21-point first-half deficit fall short against Case Western Reserve University on Saturday afternoon in the season finale for both programs.  Emory closed out the campaign with an overall mark of 7-18, 2-12 in the University Athletic Association following a 76-65 loss to the Spartans who ended their season at 8-17 overall, 5-9 in the league.

Case got out the blocks quickly, sinking six of its first seven shots in surging to a 14-0 lead four minutes into the contest.  The Spartans later used a 7-0 run to assume a 27-6 advantage with 11:10 remaining in the opening stanza.  Case still led by an 18-point margin, 35-17, following a three-point field goal by Reid Anderson with 6:29 left, but Emory regrouped and battled back into the game by closing out the half on a 13-2 blitz to narrow the gap to seven points, 37-30, heading into halftime.  Junior Anthony Fernandez scored eight of 14 first-half points in that stretch while junior Chad Hixon added four.  Despite shooting just 28.2 percent from the floor during the opening 20 minutes of play, Emory stayed within striking distance thanks to a 14-6 bulge in offensive rebounding that led to an 11-2 edge in second-chance points.

The Spartans streaked to a 17-point cushion eight minutes into the second half thanks to a 17-7 scoring spree that pushed the score to 56-39. Emory once again displayed its season-long mettle and countered with a 12-2 run of its own to trail by seven points, 58-51, with 7:46 on the clock.  The Eagles continued their run and when Fernandez hit a jumper with 5:45 remaining they were down by just four points, 63-59.  However, that would be as close as Emory would get as Case used back-to-back three pointers to stake itself to a 10-point lead with 4:36 left.  The Spartans would eventually build a 15-point margin with 2:17 remaining en route to picking up the win.

Fernandez led the Emory scoring effort with 22 points, hitting nine-of-18 from the field and all four of his free throw opportunities. It was his 15th double-figure scoring performance of the season and seventh of 20 or more points.  Hixon finished the contest with 14 points along with a game-high nine rebounds.  Hixon closed out the campaign by pacing the Eagles in rebounding in the last four and in a total of 12 contests this year.

Case's Anderson led all players with 28 points, knocking down nine-of-14 from the floor, including four-of-nine from beyond the arc.  

Emory shot 32.9 percent from the floor (25-of-76) while the visiting Spartans sank 45.2 percent of their attempts (28-of-62).  Case used the trey ball to its advantage, hitting 10-of-27 from distance compared to Emory's two-of-14. 

The Senior Day game closed out the Emory careers of both John and Ryan Kresse.  John, a three-year member of the program, scored five points and dished out three assists in 17 minutes of play while Ryan, a four-year player, grabbed one rebound in a seven-minute stint.