Box Score Junior Jake Davis led four double-figure scorers with 19 points in helping the Emory men's basketball team to win over New York University Sunday afternoon at the Woodruff PE Center. The Eagles won their fifth straight contest and raised their overall record to 13-4, 5-2 in the University Athletic Association following an 80-61 verdict over the Violets who slipped to 12-6 overall, 2-5 in the league.
Davis was successful on seven-of-12 from the field along with all four of his free throw attempts in chalking up his 40th straight double-figure scoring game. Junior McPherson Moore totaled 17 points, his 12th double-digit outing of the season, while Alex Greven (16 pts.) and senior Michael Friedberg (12 pts.) rounded out the double-figure scorers. Greven and Moore tied for the team lead with six rebounds apiece with Alex Foster helping the Eagles to a 31-29 advantage on the glass with five rebounds.
For the game, Emory connected on 53.3 percent (32-of-60) from the floor compared to NYU's effort of 41.7 percent (20-of-48). Emory came up with 14 steals and forced 20 NYU turnovers which helped it to a wide 30-5 bulge in the points-off-turnover department. Friedberg, Moore and sophomore Josh Schattie all recorded three thefts on the afternoon as the Eagles upped their home record to 7-2.
With Moore totaling 14 first-half points on seven-of-eight field goal shooting, the Eagles enjoyed a 46-32 halftime lead. Emory hit 61.3 percent (19-of-31) from the field during the opening 20 minutes of play compared to the Violets' 39.1 percent (9-of-23). Davis picked up 11 points, hitting five-of-eight of his field goal opportunities, while Greven chipped in eight points. After a pair of free throws by NYU's Carl Yaffe cut an Emory lead to 27-25 with 6:48 left in the stanza, the Eagles limited the Violets to just one field goal for the remainder of the half and posted a 19-7 barrage over that stretch to claim the 14-point bulge. The run was started with a 12-0 sprint, with Moore accounting for six points, while Davis and Alex Foster each totaled four points.
Emory kept the pressure on early in the second half with Friedberg scoring six points in a 14-4 Eagle blitz that gave them their biggest lead of the day at 24 points, 60-36, with 14:57 left in the contest. NYU would draw to within 12 points with 2:57 on the clock but Emory closed out the game by scoring nine of the last 11 points with Moore, Greven and sophomore Michael Florin all knocking down three pointers.
Emory returns to action on Friday (Feb. 1) when it plays at Brandeis.
