The No. 3 ranked Emory University men's basketball team withheld a furious second half rally to prevail 95-90 Saturday afternoon against the University of Rochester in the University Athletic Association opener. With the win, the Eagles extend their winning streak to 10 games as they improve to 11-1 on the season.
Three different Emory players recorded double-doubles in the win led by a monster performance by junior Ethan Fauss as he notched career-highs with 29 points and 16 rebounds. Senior Ben Pearce posted his second straight double-double with 22 points and 10 assists to go along with seven rebounds while sophomore Mario Awasum registered his fifth double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
For his Pearce, his 22 points pushed him past Emory Hall of Famer Spiros Ferderigos for third place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,639 points and now only trails Tim Garrett (1,875) and Jake Davis (1,870) on the career ladder.
Junior AJ Harris added 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting while classmate Spencer Hall was the lone Emory reserve to find the scoring column, finishing with 10 points, three assists and three rebounds.
The first half featured the teams trading scoring runs with the Eagles taking advantage early of a cold shooting start from the Yellowjackets to lead 19-9 with eight minutes gone by but UR responded to come back to within one at 22-21 at the under eight-minute timeout. After the Eagles were held scoreless for a brief stretch, Hall opened an 8-0 Emory run with a turnaround jumper in the lane with the Eagles' defense in turn holding the Yellowjackets off the scoreboard for over four minutes of game play. The teams traded buckets in the closing minutes of the opening half before Emory took a 41-34 lead into the halftime break.
The Eagles controlled play as things got underway in the second half, ripping off eight consecutive points before seizing their largest lead of the game at 17 points at 64-47 with 13:08 to play.
From there, Rochester continued to battle and despite starting 1-for-13 from three-point land, the Yellowjackets caught fire from long range as they knocked down six out of their next seven three-point attempts to slash the Emory lead to 78-77 with 3:35 to go in regulation.
Fauss knocked down a pivotal three-pointer to give the Eagles some cushion at 81-77 prior to Pearce scoring nine of the team's next 11 points to build the lead back to double digits. Pearce was clutch down the stretch, scoring 16 of his 22 points in the second half including 10-for-12 from the charity stripe.
With the extended lead, the teams traded free throws with the Eagles holding on for the five-point win.
Emory will remain on the road next week as the team travels north once more to take on Brandeis Friday night before NYU Sunday afternoon.
