The No. 4-ranked Emory men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Friday evening as it fell at New York University.  The Violets used 24 points from junior Carl Yaffe and raised their overall record to 11-1, 1-1 in University Athletic Association action, following an 89-73 decision over the Eagles who slipped to 12-1, 1-1 in the league.

Sophomore Jake Davis paced the Emory scoring attack with 24 points, converting nine-of-20 from the floor, including three-of-five from three-point range.  His effort represented his 13^th double-figure scoring effort of the season and sixth of 20 or more points.  Davis also led all players with 10 rebounds, his third straight double-double and fifth of the year.  Junior Michael Friedberg totaled 17 points, hitting five of his nine field goal opportunities and seven-of-eight from the charity stripe.  Friedberg also blocked three NYU shot attempts, his eighth straight contest of two or more rejections.  Senior guard Austin Claunch and junior Alex Greven rounded out the club's double-digit scorers with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Emory ended the evening shooting 37.1 percent (26-of-70) from the floor, its second-lowest mark of the season, and hit just 29.6 percent (8-of-27) from three-point range.  NYU was successful on 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field and shot an efficient 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from beyond the arc.  Each team grabbed 42 rebounds, and in the turnover department, Emory finished with 17 miscues compared to NYU's 16.

Emory scored the first basket of the game 45 seconds into the contest but fell behind shortly thereafter as it was plagued by cold shooting.  The Violets hit eight of their first 15 field goal attempts in taking a 22-12 lead with 10:58 left in the stanza.  After a bucket by junior Alex Greven drew the Eagles to within seven points, 26-19, with 6:45 left on the clock, NYU hit Emory with a 12-2 run, capped by a three-point field goal by Cory Stockmal, that pushed its lead to 38-21 with 4:07 left in the stanza.  The Eagles then regrouped and held NYU without a field goal the rest of the half in countering with a 13-3 charge that sliced the Violets' advantage to 41-34 heading into halftime.  Friedberg scored six points in that stretch while Davis chipped in five points.  Davis finished the half with 14 points and five rebounds while Friedberg tallied 10 points.  Emory shot just 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from the floor, and missed its first nine three-point field goal opportunities before ending the half with a one-of-11 effort.  NYU sank 44.0 percent (11-of-25) from the floor and hit five triples in nine attempts.

A three pointer by NYU's Ryan Tana, who finished with 15 points, in the opening moments of the second half pushed the Violets lead to 10 points, and they still held a double-figure lead, 52-42, with 16:12 on the clock following a bucket by Yaffe.  A three pointer by Davis with 15:05 remaining drew Emory to within six points at 54-48, but a crucial 10-0 NYU scoring burst, with Yafee picking up six points in that stretch, over the next 3:52 pushed its advantage to 64-48 with 11:17 left.  Emory tried to get back into the game but hit only two of its next eight field goal tries as NYU built its largest lead of the night, 73-53, with 7:18 on the clock.  The Eagles then responded with a 14-3 scoring spree, highlighted by triples by Davis, senior Alex Gulotta and Claunch, to battle back to within nine points with 4:10 remaining. Emory sank seven three pointers during the second stanza.   After Yaffe knocked down a trey to put NYU up by a dozen, Claunch answered with a three pointer of his own to keep Emory in contention at 79-70 with 3:31 on the clock.  A pair of makes by Gulotta at the charity stripe with 2:08 remaining kept the gap at nine points, but the comeback bid faded as Emory scored only one point the remainder of the contest while the Violets made six-of-eight from the foul line along with a basket.

Emory returns to action on Sunday (Jan. 15) when it plays at Brandeis in a noon start.