The Emory University men's basketball team lived to see another day as the Eagles pulled off a dramatic 83-81 overtime victory against Roanoke College in the second round of the NCAA tournament Saturday night in Atlanta.
Junior Ethan Fauss sank the game-winning three-pointer with 9.6 seconds left and then came up clutch on the defensive end with the game-clinching block on a three-point attempt from the Maroons' Jackson Bell as time expired to send the Eagles onto the Round of 16 for the sixth time in the Jason Zimmerman era and the seventh time in school history.
Emory will remain home for the Sweet 16 as the Eagles will welcome Yeshiva University to the WoodPEC Friday afternoon for a 1:00pm start, the NCAA confirmed Saturday night.
Senior Ben Pearce made history once again on Saturday as he led both teams with 29 points on 8-for-19 shooting and was 12-for-15 from the line. With his total, Pearce becomes the only basketball player in Emory history to reach 2,000 career points with 2,002 and counting. Furthermore, his 29-point outing pushed his season total to 629 points as he broke Matthew Schner's single-season scoring record of 611 points set during the 2021-22 campaign. Pearce added eight assists on the night while grabbing seven rebounds.
Three additional Eagles reached double figures in the scoring column on Saturday with senior Jair Knight going for 24 points and nine rebounds and Fauss posting a monster double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds to go along with three steals and two blocks. Sophomore Mario Awasum had 10 points in 21 minutes as he was limited by foul trouble.
Roanoke started the scoring quickly in the opening stages with 6-0 lead and saw its lead grow to as many as seven. A Fauss triple helped the Eagles even the score at 19-19 with 7:24 gone by in the first. The Maroons held the lead until Pearce put Emory ahead for the first time on the night with a layup at the 9:52 to make the score 27-26.
The first half remained a two-possession game until the closing minutes of the period. A dunk from Awasum off the feed from Harris Jackson gave the Eagles a 48-47 edge but Roanoke closed the first half on an 8-0 binge to take a seven-point lead into the break.
Awasum and Pearce combined for a 6-0 burst to lead off the second half but the Maroons maintained their lead until back-to-back triples from Knight saw Emory surge ahead at 63-62 ahead of the under 12-minute timeout.
Over the remainder of regulation, the two teams battled on the court with six lead changes and three ties. A bucket from Knight put the Eagles ahead at 75-74 and the defenses took over as neither team scored another point until one second left in regulation. A foul on Pearce with 1.0 on the clock sent Ryan Truitt to the line with a chance to seal the win. However, Truitt missed the second of his two attempts, giving Emory a second life and sending the game to overtime tied at 75.
Both teams traded scoring to begin the extra period and a jumper by Roanoke's Bell with 27 seconds remaining gave the Maroons an 81-80 advantage.
With the clock dwindling, Pearce drove to the basket to force the defense to close on him. The veteran guard dished it to a wide-open Fauss at the top of the arc who drained the go-ahead triple. With no timeouts, Roanoke ran a play once more for Bell who got off a good look but the reach of Fauss was too much as he blocked the last-ditch attempt to send the WoodPEC into pandemonium.
More information regarding Emory's Sweet 16 contest with Yeshiva University will be made available on emoryathletics.com in the coming days.
