The senior tandem of McPherson Moore and Jake Davis combined for 40 points and the Emory men's basketball opened the 2014 portion of its schedule on a successful note with a win over Piedmont College Friday evening at the Woodruff PE Center.  The Eagles, playing just their second home game of the year, raised their record to 7-3 following an 83-65 decision over the Lions who slipped to 4-5.

Moore hit eight-of-14 from the floor, including a career-high tying five three-point field goals in nine attempts, en route to a 21-point evening, his third straight and fourth outing of 20 or more points on the year.  Davis totaled 19 points, closing out the night by converting seven of his 14 field goal tries, including a pair of triples, in registering his ninth double-figure scoring performance of the year.  Davis also topped all players with eight rebounds.  Junior Michael Florin rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points while dishing out nine assists with just one turnover in 28 minutes of play.

Emory hit 44.7 percent (34-of-76) of its field goal opportunities while limiting the visitors to 39.7 percent (25-of-63), the fourth time this year an Eagle opponent had shot less than 40 percent.  Emory enjoyed a 45-37 edge in rebounding, and aiding Davis in that department were sophomore Alex Foster and freshman Austin DaGue with seven boards apiece.  DaGue also chipped in eight points and rang up a season-high four blocked shots.

Despite playing its first game since Dec. 9, Emory was successful on 14 of its first 22 field goal attempts in bolting to a 32-14 lead with 6:59 left in the opening half.   Davis scored 11 of his 15 first-half points in that sequence while Moore tallied nine of his 15 opening-stanza points during the run.   After the Lions drew to within 33-19, a pair of treys by Moore highlighted an 11-0 Emory blitz that stretched its lead to 44-19.   A triple by Davis with 54 ticks on the clock gave Emory a commanding 49-24 bulge at the break.  The Eagles hit on 55.6 percent from the floor during the opening 20 minutes and knocked down seven three pointers.

Emory led by 20 or more points for the opening 17:39 of the second half, enjoying its biggest lead of the night at 78-50 following a bucket by Florin with 4:09 left in the contest.

Emory returns to action on Jan. 6 when it hosts Birmingham Southern in the second meeting of the year between the schools.  Tip is slated for 7:00 pm.

NOTES – Jake Davis moved into the No. 4 position on Emory's all-time scoring list with 1,487 points.  Davis moved ahead of Terry Gorsuch's ('87-91) total of 1,480 points … DaGue has blocked shots in his last five games, registering a total of 10 in that stretch … Five different players accounted for Emory's 10 three-point field goals … Davis Rao ran his streak to six games with at least on three-point field goal … Emory came up with 11 steals, the third straight and fourth contest of the year with double figures in that category … Emory is 5-1 when leading at halftime this year, 78-13 during Jason Zimmerman's tenure as head coach.