Senior Christopher Avant and freshman Romin Williams each scored 17 points in leading the Emory men's basketball team to a Friday evening win at the University of Chicago.  The Eagles raised their overall record to 16-3, 7-1 in the University Athletic Association, following a 66-61 decision over the Maroons who slipped to 8-11 overall, 4-4 in the league.

Avant connected on seven-of-10 field goal tries, including three-of-three from three-point range, in notching his 12^th double-figure scoring outing of the season.  His last triple of the night came with 1:15 remaining in the contest and gave Emory a 64-55 lead.  Williams was successful on seven-of-15 from the floor in chalking up his fourth consecutive and 15^th double-figure scoring effort.  Junior Gebereal Baitey chipped in 10 points, sinking five field goals in eight attempts.

With Baitey scoring six points, Emory opened the second half on a 10-2 run that allowed it to claim a 43-37 lead.  The Maroons countered with six unanswered points to knot the score, before seeing the Eagles take the lead for good at 48-45 with 10:41 remaining after Williams buried a three-pointer. A basket by freshman Matt Davet followed by a Williams drive to the rim boosted Emory to a 52-45 lead, but the Maroons drew to within three points following four free throws by Collin Barthel.  A 7-2 Emory spurt, capped by a three-pointer by Avant, gave the Eagles some distance at 59-51 with 3:46 on the clock.  After a basket by UC's Ryan Jacobsen cut Emory's advantage to six points, a turnaround jumper by Gigax with 2:55 remaining kept the Eagles ahead by an eight-point margin.  The Maroons kept their hopes alive when Jacobsen hit a bucket with 1:46 left, but Avant's three-pointer shortly after proved to be too much for UC to overcome.  

Emory concluded the game shooting 47.4 percent (27-57) from the floor while Chicago was successful on 40 percent (22-55), the 12^th time this season the Eagles held an advantage in that category. Neither team shot well from beyond the arc as the Maroons hit at 30 percent (9-30) clip and Emory at 26.3 percent (5-19).   Emory held a 38-27 bulge in rebounding with senior Whit Rapp leading all players with a career-high 11 boards.

In a closely played opening 20 minutes of play, Chicago took a 35-33 lead into halftime. Williams chalked up 12 points, sinking five-of-10 field goal attempts and both of his free throws, while Avant chipped in seven points.  A bucket by Williams knotted the score at 21-21, but UC scored eight of the game's next 10 points to take a 29-23 lead with 5:40 left.  Five straight points by Avant cut Maroons' lead to one point with 4:20 on the clock, but back-to-back buckets by the hosts extended its lead to 33-28.  Chicago held a 35-29 lead with 1:50 left, but Emory used a tip-in by freshman Lawrence Rowley and a layup at the buzzer by Williams to slice the Maroons' lead to two heading into the break.   

Emory returns to action on Sunday (Feb. 4) when it plays at No. 2-ranked and UAA leader Washington University in a 12:00 pm (EST) tip.