Box Score Junior Davis Rao scored 12 of his team-high 17 points in the second half and the Emory men's basketball used some timely three-point shooting over the final 20 minutes of action in battling to a Sunday afternoon road win at Carnegie Mellon University. The Eagles clinched a share of the UAA title and raised their overall record to 19-5, 9-4 in the league, following a 75-63 decision over the Tartans who slipped to 13-11 overall, 4-9 in the conference.
After hitting two-of-six field goal attempts in the opening half, Rao knocked down all four of his three-point field goal attempts and finished the contest six-of-10 from the field including a career-best five-of-eight from beyond the arc. His 17 points represented his eighth double-figure scoring performance of the season. Seniors Alex Foster and Michael Florin each totaled 13 points, with Foster leading the team with eight boards, while sophomore Jonathan Terry closed out the team's double-figure scorers with 11 points. Terry also contributed four of the squad's 12 steals, his fourth straight outing with multiple thefts.
Rao's first trey in the second half gave Emory a 40-37 lead, but CMU rattled off seven straights points in taking a four-point advantage with 13:43 remaining. The Tartans held a 52-51 lead with 9:58 on the clock following a bucket by Jason Sebak, but the Eagles seized control of the contest with a 15-4 blitz, highlighted by three triples from Rao in a three-minute stretch, to bolt to a 66-56 cushion with 5:21 on the clock. CMU did get to within seven points with 1:51 remaining after Seth Cordts knocked down a triple, but Emory held the Tartans scoreless the remainder of the game en route to registering its second league crown in the past three seasons and the program's fourth ever.
Emory ended the game shooting 34.9 percent (22-of-63) from the field compared to CMU's mark of 43.6 percent (24-of-55). Three-point shooting, especially in the second stanza, proved to be a big difference with the Eagles ending the game with a success rate of 34.5 percent (10-of-29) from distance, 57.1 percent (8-of-14) in the second half. CMU struggled from beyond the arc all day, converting just one of its 19 opportunities.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with both teams coming up with a pair of significant runs. An early 8-0 Eagle spurt that saw four different players score, put them up by a 14-6 count before the Tartans countered with an 8-0 burst of their own that knotted the score with 11:22 remaining. Emory punched back with another 8-0 charge, with Josh Schattie scoring four points in that stretch, enabling it to claim a 22-14 edge. The Eagles held a 24-20 margin before triples by Jonathan Terry and Davis Rao gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the stanza, 30-20, with 4:33 on the clock. However, CMU closed out the half with nine unanswered points to slice the Emory lead to 30-29 heading into halftime. Foster and Schattie led the Emory scoring attack with six points apiece while Seth Cordts led CMU with 11 points. Emory hit just 30.8 percent (12-of-39) from the floor during the opening 20 minutes of action but forced 15 CMU turnovers that it turned into 13 points.
Emory, one game ahead of both Washington University and the University of Chicago in the standings, will attempt to capture the league title outright next Saturday (Feb. 28) when it plays host to the University of Rochester in a noon tip.
NOTES – Prior to securing at least a tie for the conference crown, other UAA titles for the Eagles came in 1989, 1990 and 2013 … Alex Foster upped his streak to 24 games with at least one three-point field goal, the seventh-longest mark in program history … Foster, who recorded his 1,000th career point in Friday's game at Case Western, now has 1,027 points in his career, good for 13th position all-time at Emory … Today's 10 three pointers represented the 11th time this season that Emory finished in double figures in that category with the team posting a 9-2 slate in those contests … The Eagles are 18-0 this year when leading at halftime … Emory continued its recent stretch of solid free throw shooting, converting 77.8 percent (21-of-27) from the stripe, its sixth straight outing of 70 percent or better … Over the past six games, the Eagles are 78.7 percent from the foul line (100-of-127) … Michael Florin's 13-point afternoon was his 11 straight contest of double-figure scoring.
