Box Score Junior Jake Davis and senior Michael Friedberg combined for 37 points and 14 rebounds but it wasn't enough as the Emory men's basketball came out on the short end of its University Athletic Association opener Saturday afternoon at Rochester. The Eagles saw their overall record slip to 8-3 following an 89-80 defeat at the hands of the No. 4-ranked Yellowjackets who upped their overall slate to 12-0.
Emory ended the contest shooting 43.7 percent (31-of-71) from the floor while Rochester was successful on 50 percent (31-of-62) of its attempts. The Yellowjackets converted 35.7 percent (5-of-14) of their opportunities from three-point range compared to the Eagles' showing of 25 percent (6-of-24), their second-lowest mark of the campaign. Emory enjoyed a 39-30 advantage in the rebounding department, 17-9 on the offensive end, but was hampered by 14 turnovers that UR parlayed into 23 points.
Davis sank eight-of-19 from the floor and all five of his free throw opportunities en route to his fifth performance of 20 or more points this season and 33rd straight double-figure scoring outing. Davis also paced the Emory effort on the glass for the fourth time this year with nine boards. Friedberg knocked down six-of-nine from the field, including both of his three-point attempts, in registering his third straight and eighth game this season of double figures. Friedberg added five rebounds, two blocked shots and two assists in the cause. Junior McPherson Moore (11 pts.), senior Alex Greven (10 pts.) and sophomore Josh Schattie (10 pts.) rounded out the team's double-digit scorers.
Rochester senior guard John DiBartolomeo led all players with 34 points, and doled out nine assists, while junior Nate Vernon chipped in 25 points, sinking 10-of-13 from the field including three-of-four from distance.
Facing a four-point deficit at halftime, the Eagles fell behind by nine points on a number of occasions during the first 8:30 of the second half, including a 63-54 obstacle following a DiBartolomeo jumper with 11:35 left in the game. A bucket by Moore followed by a layup by Davis, two of his 14 points over the final 20 minutes of action, sliced the UR lead to 63-58 but the Yellowjackets responded by scoring six of the game's next seven points to take its biggest lead of the game up to that point, 69-59, with 8:19 on the clock. Emory did manage to draw to within six points a couple of times, the last occurring with 2:49 left when a bucket by Davis cut the UR cushion to 77-71. However, the Yellowjackets stifled the Emory comeback by scoring eight of their final 12 points from the charity stripe, ending the contest by draining 22-of-25 from the line (20-of-22 in the second half) in posting their 30th straight regular-season home win.
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Behind 17 points from Vernon and 14 from DiBartolomeo, the Yellowjackets went into halftime with a 47-43 edge. Both teams shot the ball well from the floor with the Eagles sinking 51.5 percent (17-of-33) of their opportunities and Rochester 51.3 percent (20-of-39). A three-pointer by UR's Will Sheehy put the home squad up by a 16-11 count with 10:37 left in the stanza before Emory responded with a 12-0 charge over a two-minute stretch, keyed by treys from sophomore Michael Florin, Greven and Moore to bolt to a 23-16 lead with 8:39 on the clock. Rochester regrouped and used an 11-4 run to knot the contest at 27-27 with 6:14 left. After a three pointer by Friedberg broke that deadlock, the Yellowjackets used a 9-2 sprint to re-take the lead at 36-32. The Eagles fought back and used a bucket by Moore off his steal to take a 39-38 lead with 3:24 remaining. However, UR scored the last four points off the half, including a last-second bucket by DiBartolomeo, to take the four-point lead into the locker room. Florin led the Emory scoring effort during the opening 20 minutes of play with eight points while Greven and Friedberg each totaled seven points.
Emory returns to action next Friday (Jan. 11) when its hosts No. 5-ranked Washington University.
