On a night that saw senior Whit Rapp become the school's all-time assists leader, the Emory men's basketball team posted a Friday win over New York University in a game played at the Woodruff PE Center. Emory won for the third straight time and raised its overall record to 19-4, 10-2 in the University Athletic Association, following a 96-85 decision over the Violets who slipped to 10-12 overall, 3-9 in the conference.
Freshman Romin Williams and junior Geberal Baitey combined for 41 points in the win that saw the Eagles produce five double-figure scorers. Williams picked up 21 points, his sixth outing of 20 or more points this year, finishing the contest seven-of-13 from the field, including five-of-eight from distance. Baitey contributed 20 points to the cause, his 15th double-figure effort of the campaign, going eight-of-12 from the floor, while sinking a pair of triples along with two free throws. Senior Adam Gigax and Rapp, tallied 13 and 11 points, respectively, while freshman Matt Davet registered 10 points.
Rapp closed out the evening with 10 assists and in the process upped his career total to 583, bettering Austin Claunch's (2008-12) previous No. 1 standard of 580. Rapp established the record with 17 minutes left in the second half when he fed junior Beau Bommarito who knocked down a three-pointer giving Emory a 61-45 lead. It was the third time this season and 18th in his career that he had dished out 10 or more assists in a game.
Behind 17 points from Williams and converting nine treys in 18 attempts, Emory roared to a 50-36 advantage heading into halftime. Williams was successful on six of his eight field goal opportunities, including five-of-six from beyond the arc, in helping Emory establish its cushion at the break. NYU held a five-point lead with 14:22 left in the opening stanza before the Eagles blitzed the visitors with a 17-2 barrage, which saw Williams get things started with back-to-back treys en route to scoring eight points in that run while Davet accounted for five points, in talking a 28-18 lead. Emory held a nine-point cushion, 38-29, before going on a 12-5 spurt that saw Williams nail three triples and Davet one trey, in claiming a 50-34 bulge with 2:01 on the clock.
NYU cut into the Emory lead early in the second half, drawing to within eight points with 18:18 remaining. However, five straight points by Baitey followed by a Bommarito three-pointer extended Emory's lead back to 16 points. NYU managed to stay within striking distance, creeping to within nine points before four straight points by Williams, followed by a Rapp trey, boosted the Eagles back to a 16-point edge with 6:06 left. NYU made one more run, cutting its deficit to 88-80 with 2:51 on the clock, but the Eagles ended any comeback hopes by scoring six of the game's next seven points, courtesy of a pair of Rapp triples, to go up, 94-81 with just over a minute remaining.
Emory ended the game shooting 50.7 percent (34-67) from the floor and had its mojo going from beyond the arc, nailing a season-high 16 treys in 34 attempts for a 47.1 percent effort. The Eagles had seven different players come up three-pointers in registering the program's fourth-highest game total. NYU connected on 53 percent (35-66) of its floor attempts and was led in scoring by Feldman's 24 points.
Emory, now 11-1 at home this year, returns to action on Sunday (Feb. 18) when it entertains Brandeis in a Senior Day contest slated to begin at noon.