The Emory University men's basketball team is headed to Fort Wayne, Indiana after the Eagles defeated Yeshiva University, 101-80, in the NCAA Round of 16 Friday afternoon in front of a capacity crowd inside the Woodruff PE Center in Atlanta.
It will be the second consecutive trip to the Elite Eight for Emory University and the third in program history. The Eagles await the winner of Illinois Wesleyan and Endicott on Thursday, March 19th at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum a time to be determined.
All five members of the starting lineup reached double figures with senior Ben Pearce going for 26 points as he recorded another double-double with 10 assists. Juniors AJ Harris and Ethan Fauss notched 19 points each and sophomore Mario Awasum and senior Jair Knight chipped in with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Fauss and Awasum both registered double doubles as well with Fauss grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds and Awasum collecting 12 on the glass to go along with four of the Eagles' nine blocks.
The Eagles were fired up to say the least hosting their first-ever Round of 16 game in Atlanta as Emory scored 16 of the game's first 18 points to lead 16-2 at the first media timeout. A three-pointer from Fauss extended the lead to its largest of the half at 19-4 less than a minute later.
The Maccabees did not go down without a fight however as Yeshiva was able to bring to the score to within three at 35-32 with 4:57 to go and again at 45-42 with 1:28 on a triple from YU's Zevi Samet. Samet poured in 26 of his game-high 43 points in the first half, including 4-for-5 from long range, to keep Yeshiva within striking distance.
Harris, Fauss and Awasum scored the first seven points for the Eagles in the return from break, helping extend Emory's lead to 14 at 58-44. The lead remained in double figures until a 7-0 run from the Maccabees including an and-one from Samet brought the margin down to four at 68-64 with 13:08 remaining.
Pearce would stop the run with a bucket at the 12:25 mark and went on to score seven of the next 11 Emory points before assisting on another Fauss trey to build the lead back to 13 at 82-69 where it would remain in double figures for the remainder of the contest.
Further Elite Eight information including opponent and game time will be made available in the coming days.
