The No. 1 ranked Emory University men's basketball team dropped its second consecutive matchup on the road as the Eagles were defeated 74-64 to No. 6 ranked University of Chicago in the highly touted meeting at the Ratner Athletic Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Senior Ben Pearce had a team-high 23 points as he finished with a near triple-double, recording eight assists and eight assists in 40 minutes. Classmate Jair Knight had 15 points and seven rebounds while sophomore Mario Awasum joined them in double figures with 11 points. Juniors Ethan Fauss and AJ Harris registered a team-leading 10 rebounds each with Fauss topping the team with four blocks.
"Winning on the road in the UAA is always a challenge," said Head Coach Jason Zimmerman. "We faced a great deal of adversity this weekend and got better from it. We will continue to improve and look forward to competing in Atlanta on Friday."
The first half featured both teams trading alternate unanswered runs with Emory opening with a 9-0 burst to lead 9-3 before the Maroons answered with seven straight points to lead 10-9. The Eagles then countered with a 12-0 span that started a 20-5 run for the visitors, helping the Eagles move ahead by their largest lead of the afternoon at 14 points at 29-15 with 3:22 remaining in the half. Pearce, Knight and Awasum paced the Eagles from the start with 26 of the team's 29 points and on the opposite end, Emory's defense held UC in check including a stretch of over five minutes where the Maroons had just two points.
The Eagles' halftime lead of 11 points began to dwindle as Chicago ripped off a 7-0 run to make it a six-point game following a Harris' three-pointer that started the half. UC cut the game to a single possession twice over the next eight minutes but both times Fauss was able to give the Eagles some breathing room with successful long-range shots, with his second triple making it a 50-45 contest with 8:42 to play.
Chicago continued to battle however and eventually evened the score at 56 with a Nick Roper jumper at the 5:06 mark before Shane Regan put the Maroons ahead for the time since 10-9 with free throws at the 4:15 mark. The Maroons' Eamoon Kenah and Daniel Cochran sank pivotal three-pointers to surge Chicago ahead by eight as the Eagles went scoreless for a span of 3:48 until a Knight free throw ended the run with 1:29 to go.
Pearce scored five straight points for the Eagles to bring Emory to within six at 68-62 with 51 seconds showing but Chicago proceeded to go 6-for-8 at the stripe in the final moments to seal the comeback win.
The Eagles look to rebound next weekend with another crack at their UAA rivals and will host WashU at 5:30 PM on Friday in Atlanta to begin a four-game homestand.
