The Emory University men's basketball team opened its NCAA tournament run Friday night with an 87-73 victory against the Mississippi University for Women Owls in the opening round of the postseason in Atlanta.

Seniors Ben Pearce and Jair Knight paced the Eagles in scoring with 23 and 16 points, respectively, and were joined in double figures from junior Ethan Fauss with his 13 points. Knight recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds and had a team-best two blocks. Sophomore Mario Awasum also got it done down low with a career-high 16 rebounds to go along with a team-leading six assists and six points. Pearce added five assists to his line as he passed Emory Hall of Famer Austin Claunch for second place on the school's all-time assists leaderboard with 581 in his career.

With the win, the Eagles advanced to the second round on Saturday and will take on Roanoke College at 7:15pm for a spot in the Sweet 16. The Maroons advanced in the bracket with an 88-84 victory against SAA Champion Rhodes College earlier Friday evening.
 

Two quick buckets from Knight and a Pearce triple had the Eagles ahead of the Owls 7-1 two minutes in but MUW fought with nothing to lose and saw the score tied at 12-12. A pair of treys from Fauss and another bucket from Pearce helped Emory go on an 8-2 run.

The Owls continued to battle against the tournament's No. 2 overall seed with the Eagles leading 34-31 at the 4:27 mark but a 16-6 run to end the half gave Emory the separation it needed. Five different Eagles scored in the run highlighted by seven points from Pearce.

Emory maintained its double digit lead for the remainder of the night with the lead swelling to as many 23 points with successful tip-in from Spencer Hall to make it 75-52 with 7:43 left to play.

Nine different Eagles scored four points or more in the contest with Emory shooting 41.0% from the floor and had a 64-40 edge on the glass.

For more information regarding the NCAA opening rounds in Atlanta, visit the tournament website found here.