The Emory men's basketball team saw a two-game win streak come to an end Saturday afternoon as it fell victim to a late surge by Hampden-Sydney College.  The Tigers improved their record to 3-4 following a 90-85 decision over the Eagles who slipped to 4-2.

Hampden-Sydney trailed by a four-point margin with 50 seconds remaining but scored the last nine points of the contest to emerge with the win. After a three-point field goal by Adam Gigax had given Emory an 85-81 edge, the Tigers cut their deficit to two points following a bucket by Nick Chase. H-SC's Malik Crute stole the ensuing Emory inbounds pass and converted a three-point play after getting fouled on his bucket.  After an Emory turnover, two charity tosses by Chase boosted the Tigers' lead to three points with 15 ticks on the clock.  Emory had a chance to tie the game but missed a three-point opportunity.  Hunter Kuehn then closed out the game's scoring with a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining.

Emory led by a 51-47 margin with 14:02 remaining after a basket by Gigax, but nine straight points by the Tigers, capped by a Crute jumper, put the hosts up by a five-point margin. A triple by Quinn allowed H-SC to move to a 62-55 advantage with 10:06 remaining and it still maintained that seven-point cushion with 6:38 on the clock following a basket by Jake Hahn.  The Eagles responded with an impressive 15-5 blitz that saw Williams score five points and Gigax and Bommarito sink treys, to claim a 77-74 edge with just under four minutes on the clock.  A basket by senior Christopher Avant kept Emory up by four, 82-78, with 1:28 left in the game.

Hampden-Sydney's Kevin Quinn led all players with 26 points, hitting eight-of-12 from the floor, including seven three pointers in eight attempts. Crute chipped in 20 points, finishing six-of-nine from the floor.

Gigax and freshman Romin Williams tied for team scoring honors with 17 points each.  Gigax sank seven-of-14 field goal attempts, including three triples, while Williams, who tallied 14 second-half points, converted six field goals in 11 tries and four charity tosses in five opportunities.  Junior Gebereal Baitey and Bommarito rounded out the squad's double-figure scorers with 14 and 13 points, respectively.  Baitey was seven-of-eight from the floor while Bommarito converted five field goals in six tries.

Both teams shot well from the field with Emory finishing with a 60.3 percent mark (35-58) and the Tigers at 56.1 percent (32-57).  H-SC was hot from three-point range, draining 60 percent (12-20) of their attempts compared to Emory's 28 percent (7-25). 

Emory got off to a quick start, sinking six of its first eight field goal attempts in taking a 13-6 lead just four minutes into the game, the first of two six-point leads in would enjoy in the half.  A jumper by freshman Clay Washburn boosted the Eagles to a 19-13 edge, but the Tigers responded with a 6-0 charge that tied game with 8:46 remaining.  H-SC took its first lead of the day with 6:25 on the clock after a three-point by Malik Crute gave it a 24-23 advantage, however the lead was short lived as back-to-back buckets by Baitey put the Eagles up with 5:25 left. After a layup by Bommarito made the score 29-26 in Emory's favor, the Tigers Kevin Quinn knocked down a three-pointer that knotted things up at 29-29.  Romin Williams' one-of-two makes at the stripe with 37 ticks on the clock gave Emory a 33-32 advantage, but Crute's second trey of the game in the waning moments gave H-SC the two-point edge heading into the break.  Hampden-Sydney connected on 53.8 percent (14-26) of its field goal attempts, including 66.7 percent (6-9) from distance during the opening 20 minutes while Emory was successful on 52 percent (13-25) from the floor, but just 16.7 percent (2-12) from beyond the arc.  Bommarito led Emory with seven points while Quinn totaled 11 to pace the Tigers.

Emory returns to action on Wednesday (Dec. 6) when it hosts Covenant College in a 7:00 pm start.