The No. 3 ranked Emory University men's basketball team wrapped up day one at the Midway Classic tournament Saturday afternoon, falling to Trinity (TX) University 90-78. Seniors Jair Knight and Ben Pearce led the Eagles with 29 and 23 points apiece.
"Winning college basketball games are hard. You must earn the right to win, and we did not do that today," Head Coach Jason Zimmerman said following the game. "Credit to Trinity. They kept us off balance and forced us to turn the ball over, leading to numerous extra possessions for them."
The game started off strong for the Eagles as Pearce hit a three off the assist from John Coppolino IV. The lead kept shifting as both teams were productive on offense, but the Tigers pulled ahead in the 13th minute as they put up a three to take a two-point lead quickly followed by a layup to put Trinity ahead 18-14. The momentum kept shifting until the Eagles went on a four-point scoring run in an attempt to widen the margin, but the Tigers responded and ended up with the 41-37 lead in the first half.
The Eagles tried to reclaim the lead at the beginning of the second half, but the Tigers were on a roll. The Tigers put up a pair of threes back-to-back followed by two made free throws to maintain their lead, but Pearce responded with a clutch three on the fastbreak to try and shift the Eagles energy. The Eagles began to close in on Trinity's lead thanks to a pair of good free throws from Knight and a pair of in-the-paint shots from sophomore Mario Awasum. Junior Spencer Hall followed the momentum from his teammates with a jumper to put the Eagles only two points shy of the lead. The score was 55-53 with 13 minutes to go, but the Tigers made a run for it and remained in the lead for the remainder of the game, serving the Eagles their first loss of the season by a 12-point margin.
"We continued to battle though, allowing us to have a chance in the second half. However, we need to be precise and execute for a full 40 minutes in order to win."
The Eagles look to bounce back on Sunday when the team takes on UC-Santa Cruz at 1:00 p.m. ET to close out play at the Midway Classic in Chicago, Illinois.
