The Emory men's basketball team saw its season come to an end Friday evening on the campus of Augustana College, falling to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in a NCAA D-III Tournament Round of 16. The Eagles saw their seven-game win streak snapped and campaign ended with a mark of 23-5 following a 93-72 setback to the Titans, who earned the right to advance to Saturday's Elite Eight contest while upping their overall slate to 23-7.
Both teams ended the night shooting 50 percent from the floor, with Emory successful on 29 of 58 attempts and Oshkosh 30 of 60, but three-point shooting proved to be a key factor in the outcome with the Titans draining 51.7 percent (second-highest opponent total of the season) on 15 of 29 while Emory checked in at 45 percent (9 of 20).
Senior Whit Rapp led the Emory scoring attack with a season-high 15 points, his eighth double-figure performance of the season, sinking six-of-nine from the floor including three treys. Rapp also doled out 11 assists, the fifth time this season and 20th in his career that he registered double digits in that category. Senior Adam Gigax contributed 14 points, going six-of-12 from the field and two-of-five from distance. Junior Gebereal Baitey rounded out the squad's double-figure scorers with 10 points.
UW-Oshkosh used a 7-0 flurry over the final 1:26 of the first half that extend a four-point lead into a 40-29 cushion heading into halftime. The Titans hit 39.4 percent (13-33) from the floor over the opening 20 minutes of action, but were efficient from beyond the arc, converting eight triples in 19 tries. The Eagles were successful on 39.3 percent (11-28) of their field goal attempts and drained four three pointers in 10 opportunities. Baitey, who picked up two fouls and was limited to nine minutes, led the team's scoring effort with six points while freshman Matt Davet chipped in five points.
The Titans opened the second half with a three pointer before Gigax countered with a trey that kept Emory to within 11. Oshkosh then moved to a 15-point margin before a bucket by Chris Avant cut the gap to 53-40. The Titans then went on a 10-3 spurt, which saw Charlie Noone sink one of his eight treys, to extend is lead to 63-43 with 10:42 remaining. Another triple by Noone, who led all players with 32 points, would give Oshkosh its largest lead of the night, 73-48, with on the clock. Down by 23 points with 5:43 remaining, the Eagles scrapped back to within 13 twice, the final time with 2:10 on the clock after a jumper by Rapp found its mark.
NOTES – Rapp closed out his career with 629 assists, good for the top spot on the school's all-time ladder … Gigax ended his four-year run in the program in the No. 8 position on the Eagles' career scoring chart with 1,244 points … Emory's 23 wins represented the second-highest win total in school history … Chris Avant will hang up his uniform in the No. 2 spot on Emory's career ladder with a 55.4 field goal percentage (269-485) mark.