Emory junior Michael Friedberg scored a season-high 16 points Thursday evening to lead four double-figure scorers, and the Eagles used a torrid second-half shooting exhibition from three-point range in  claiming a home victory over Rhodes College.  The No. 5-ranked Emory squad upped its record to 9-0 following an 84-66 victory over the Lynx who fell to 7-4.

Friedberg sank five-of-10 from the field and four free throws in registering his fourth double-figure scoring performance of the season and second-highest of his career.  He also grabbed five rebounds, second high on the squad, and blocked three shots.  Senior guard Austin Claunch and sophomore Jake Davis each contributed 13 points in the contest with Claunch tying the school record that he already holds with 12 assists and Davis tying for game honors with eight rebounds.  

Nursing a 47-44 lead with 15:19 left in the game, the Eagles put together a stunning 18-4 scoring run over the next 5:11 to take a commanding 65-48 advantage with 10:08 on the clock.   Emory knocked down four of its 13 triples in that stretch with senior Alex Gulotta hitting a pair while senior Corey Spraggins and Friedberg each converted one from beyond the arc.  Gulotta tallied 12 points in the affair on the strength of four-of-six shooting, his fourth straight and fifth double-figure effort of the campaign.  After building the 17-point cushion, the closest the Lynx would get was 15 points on a pair of occasions, the final time with eight minutes remaining.  Emory would lead by as many as 26 points, 82-56, with 4:14 left following a 9-0 outburst that saw Davis, junior Nash Oh and senior Justin Resnick hit back-to-back-to-back treys in a 94-second span.

Three-point shooting was the story of the game with the Eagles' mark of 54.2 percent mark (13-of-24) from beyond the arc tying the ninth-highest effort in school annals.  In addition, Emory's 13 makes from distance tied the seventh-highest game total in school history with seven different players sinking a three pointer. Over the final 20 minutes of action, the Eagles hit a blazing 66.7 percent (10-of-15) of their three-point opportunities.  Emory has 10 or more three-point field goals in six of its nine contests this year.

For the game, Emory hit 47.8 percent (33-of-69) its field goal opportunities compared to the Lynx's effort of 46.4 percent (26-of-56).  Andrew Galow of Rhodes led all players with 20 points.  Rhodes finished with a 38-32 edge on the glass but turned the ball over 15 times to the Eagles' four miscues and using that disparity in that stat to post a 17-2 bulge in points off turnovers.

Another highlight of the evening was the return to the lineup of junior Alex Greven and Corey Spraggins.  Greven, who had missed the last five games after suffering an injury early in the Berry game back on Nov. 22, scored nine points on four-of-five shooting from the floor in nine minutes of action while Spraggins took to the court for the first time in 2011-12 after suffering an injury this past spring.  He scored three points and had one steal.

The Eagles return to action on Saturday (Dec. 31) when they close out the 2011 portion of the schedule with a home date vs. Guilford starting at 1:00 p.m.