The No. 11 ranked Emory University men's basketball team returned to the win column Friday night as the Eagles halted their two-game skid with a 91-85 victory over Carnegie Mellon University at the Woodruff PE Center in Atlanta.
Junior Ben Pearce and Jair Knight tallied 25 points each for the winning cause with Knight adding a career-high 13 rebounds and Pearce dishing out a game-high eight assists. Sophomore AJ Harris produced 13 points and eight rebounds while senior Logan Shanahan nearly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds to go along with six blocks.
The Tartans jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening stages and would later expand their edge to 16-7 through 5:42 in the first half. Carnegie Mellon continued to lead by multiple possessions throughout the first half before Emory began its rally with 5:32 to play in the half.
Trailing 33-26, the Eagles ripped off a 10-1 run over the two minutes which started on a pair of triples from Pearce and ended with a Knight layup to give Emory its first lead of the night at 36-34 with 3:09 to go before the break. A mini 6-0 spurt from the Tartans pushed the visitors back in front and helped CMU carry a 42-41 advantage into the break.
Both teams started the second half cold from the floor with the Eagles shooting at a 2-for-10 clip and the Tartans fairing worse at 1-for-14. Harris scored the first five points for Emory in the return, but CMU answered with five straight of its own to regain the lead at 47-46.
A 9-3 run featuring five points from Pearce, a pair of free throws from Knight and a layup from sophomore Spencer Richards established a 55-50 cushion at the under 12-minute mark. The lead was able to grow to 71-62 across the next four minutes with Knight scoring nine of the Eagles' 16 points in the span.
A two-minute scoreless stretch by the Eagles allowed the Tartans to inch closer at 71-67 but that was as close as Emory let it get as the Eagles led the rest of the way and sank 7-of-10 free throw attempts down the stretch to clinch the win.
Next up for the Eagles is a Sunday matinee against the Spartans of Case Western Reserve. Tip off against CWRU is set for 1:30 PM at the WoodPEC.
