Box Score Seniors Alex Foster and Michael Florin combined for 35 points but it wasn't enough as the Emory University men's basketball saw a furious second-half comeback bid fall short in a Sunday afternoon setback at the University of Chicago. The No. 5 Eagles saw their overall record fall to 11-3 (1-2 UAA) following an 80-74 defeat to the No. 23-ranked Maroons, who boosted their overall record to 11-3 (3-0 UAA).
Foster paced the Emory scoring attack for the 12th time this year, totaling 18 points, while also pulling down a team-high nine rebounds. Florin wound up the contest with 17 points, his second-highest total of the season, hitting five-of-11 from the floor and all six of his free throw opportunities.
Chicago outshot Emory from the floor, 45.8 percent (27-of-59) to 42.6 percent (26-of-61), and converted 42.9 percent (9-of-21) of its three-point opportunities to the Eagles' 29.2 percent (7-of-24). UC attempted 32 free throws, sinking 17, while Emory was successful on 15 of its 18 opportunities.
Trailing by a nine-point margin, Emory opened the second half with a 16-0 blitz of the Maroons, with five different players scoring in that stretch, that gave it a 50-43 lead with 12:53 left in the game. After Chicago cut the Eagles' lead to two points, a three-point play by Josh Schattie followed by a bucket by Foster helped Emory maintain a five-point cushion with 9:45 on the clock. The Maroons battled back to knot the score at 56-56, but Emory quickly reclaimed a two-point edge after Florin sank a jumper. A triple by the Maroons' Jake Fenlon put UC up by a digit, but Foster scored the games' next five points that staked Emory to a 63-59 margin with 6:06 on the clock. UC's Alex Voss countered with a personal 7-0 run that pushed Chicago to a three-point lead but the Eagles tied the score with 3:09 remaining after junior Will Trawick scored four points in a 6-3 Emory run. However, Emory went scoreless for the next three minutes while UC rattled off a 10-0 burst, keyed by junior Jordan Smith's seven points, including a key three pointer with 41 ticks on the scoreboard as the shot clock was winding down, in claiming 79-69 bulge. Smith led all players with 19 points.
Chicago led the bulk of the first half and shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field in taking a 43-34 lead into halftime. Both teams started out slowly over the first five minutes with Emory hitting just two of its first 10 field goal attempts while the Maroons sank three field goals in their opening 11 opportunities with the host squad claiming an 11-7 edge. A put-back by freshman Jim Gordon drew Emory to within two points, but UC went on a 9-2 spurt to claim a 26-17 advantage with 5:48 left in the stanza. The Eagles cut their deficit to six points at 38-32 following a three-pointer by Florin, but the Maroons scored five straight points to take their biggest lead of the stanza, 43-32, with 39 seconds on the clock. Florin, who led Emory scoring effort with nine first-half points, closed out the scoring on a nice hesitation drive to the hoop in the waning moments. Emory shot 41.9 percent (13-of-31) from the floor during the opening 20 minutes of action.
The Eagles return to action on Friday (Jan. 23) when they host Case Western Reserve.
