The No. 8 ranked Emory men's basketball team (2-0) had its first big test of the year on Saturday evening, taking on the No. 17 ranked Guilford Quakers at home. The Eagles had suffered a narrow overtime loss to the Quakers early on last season but were sure to get their vengeance on their home court. Emory came out of the gate on a tear, knocking down nine straight three-point shots to open the game and take a lead they would never relinquish as Emory topped the Quakers, 75-61.
 
Junior guards Ben Pearce and Jair Knight powered the Emory offense once again, going for 20 and 16 points, respectively. Their classmate and fellow guard John Coppolino IV was also efficient off the bench, knocking down three of five shots from beyond the arc while pulling down four boards and dishing two assists in 18 minutes of action.
 
The Eagles ran out to a quick 20-6 lead in the opening four minutes of play, with senior Logan Shanahan and sophomore AJ Harris joining Knight and Pearce in the flurry of threes. Harris and Knight each knocked down two over this stretch. The Eagles continued to put their foot on the gas, jumping out to a 35-17 lead at the 11:16 mark of the first half. Of the 35 points, 27 were scored via the three-ball.
 
Despite the strong start, the Emory offense suddenly went cold. The Eagles couldn't get the three to fall and weren't able to create opportunities inside, leading to Emory scoring just two points over the final 11 minutes of the half, opening the door for the Quakers. The Quakers took advantage of the opportunity, knocking down a couple of threes of their own and ending the half on a 13-2 run to pull within seven heading into the half.
 
The Eagles came out of the break hot again, dominating the flow of the game and jumping out to an 11-0 run in the opening three minutes. Just a few possessions later after Guilford had made a couple shots of their own, Coppolino IV knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to take a 54-37 lead with just under 14 minutes remaining.
 
The Quakers continued to chip away at the Emory lead, bringing it within 10 with just under 10 minutes to go. As the two continued to trade blows, it was senior Albert Fallas who knocked down the dagger when he nailed a three-point shot to take a 16-point lead with 4:33 to go. The Eagles coasted the rest of the way, earning their first top-25 win of the 2024-25 season.
 
Emory finished the game shooting 42.9% (15-35) from three and 47.4% from the field (27-57) in the win. With the win, Emory improves to 2-0 on the young season.

Next up, the Eagles will travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan to take part in the highly competitive Great Lakes Invitational where they'll take on #9 Calvin University and #3 John Carroll University. They'll start with Calvin on Friday, November 22^nd at 7:30 PM and John Carroll on Saturday, November 23^rd at 5:30 PM.