The No. 8 ranked Emory men's basketball team (4-0) played its third straight ranked opponent on Saturday night, this time taking on the No. 3 ranked John Carroll Blue Streaks at the Great Lakes Invitational. After taking down No. 9 ranked Calvin last night, the Eagles continued its stretch of dominance on Saturday as they took down the Blue Streaks, 90-75, at the Van Noord Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Four Eagles went into double digits scoring on the box score, with junior Jair Knight leading the way with 23. His classmate Ben Pearce was close behind with 18 points to go along with four assists while senior big-man Logan Shanahan recorded 16 points and nine rebounds. The Eagles simply outpaced the Blue Streaks, playing a dynamic brand of basketball that led to Emory scoring 20 points off fast breaks whereas John Carroll had just one off the fast break.
The Eagles opened the contest the same way they've done all season – red hot from beyond the arc. Shanahan, Pearce, and sophomore AJ Harris all knocked down threes within the opening three minutes to set the tone and take a commanding 9-2 lead. Harris went on to knock down another three just a couple of possessions later, as the Eagles took a 14-7 lead just moments into the game.
John Carroll had answers on offense, continuing to hit their shots to keep the game from getting out of hand early, even coming within three points around the 15-minute mark. Yet, Knight went on to score nine straight points for Emory in the span of just over two minutes. The junior made a highlight worthy play over the stretch, intercepting a pass on the defensive end before fighting through contact to make a layup and convert the three-point play.
Knight's run gave Emory a 26-13 lead at the 12-minute mark as the Blue Streaks called timeout to regroup. Emory came out of the timeout with yet another three-pointer, this time from Shanahan. Junior John Coppolino IV joined in on the fun, knocking down a three of his own at the nine-minute mark to give Emory a 33-19 lead.
Emory led by as much as 18 in the half, but the Blue Streaks were able to chip away at the Eagles lead down the stretch as Emory entered the half with a 48-36 lead. Shanahan led all scorers at the break with 13.
The Eagles continued to shoot the lights out in the second half as Shanahan set the tone on the first possession with another shot from deep. Then, Knight intercepted another pass outran everyone to the other end and finished it himself for another bucket. He hit a three just seconds later as Emory opened the half on a 10-2 run in the first two and a half minutes.
Yet, the offense went cold for the next five minutes, opening the door for the Blue Streaks. John Carroll didn't have many solutions on offense, though, scoring just seven points during the Emory dry spell. A highlight reel alley-oop from senior Albert Fallas to Knight with just over 12 minutes to go reignited the Emory offense, though, and the Eagles began to pull away.
The Eagles continued to keep the Blue Streaks comeback attempt at bay, with Fallas, Pearce and Knight all knocking down threes down the stretch to secure another win over a top-10 opponent. Emory outshot the Blue Streaks from beyond the arc, making 13 to John Carroll's four.
With the win, Emory improves to 4-0 and three wins over teams ranked in d3hoops.com's preseason top-25. With the highly-competitive road trip in the rearview, Emory will return home for a game this week against Piedmont. The matchup with Piedmont will start at 5:30 PM at the Woodruff P.E. Center.
