School Records Fall As Emory Men's Basketball Defeats Trinity

School Records Fall As Emory Men's Basketball Defeats Trinity

The Emory men's basketball team set a program record for most points in a game on Saturday as it rolled  to a victory at home over Trinity University.  The No. 23-ranked Eagles upped their record to 5-2 following a 116-77 outcome over the Tigers who slipped to 0-7.  Emory's point total surpassed the previous standard of 112 set against the University of the South on November 29, 2005.

In addition to the point total, Emory established a single-game mark with 19 three-point field goals, bettering the 18 triples that were converted against Sewanee (Dec. 6, 2005) and earlier this season against Keuka College (Nov. 17) in Roanoke College's Dick Leftwich Tip-Off Tournament.  The Eagles had seven different players connect from beyond the arc, closing out the contest sinking 54.3 percent (19-of-35) from long range, the 14th-highest game performance in school history.

For the ninth time in school annals, three players totaled 20 or more points, paced by sophomore Luke Morrison whose game-high 23 points also represented a season-high. Morrison, who notched 20 second-half points, wrapped up the game seven-of-eight from the floor, draining all five of his three-point opportunities in the process, and four-of-four from the foul line.  Sophomore Matt Davet rang up 21 points, his third outing of 20-plus points this season, knocking down eight field goals in 14 tries, three-of-seven from distance, and a pair of charity tosses.  Romin Williams rounded out the trio with 20 points, thanks to some keen shooting that saw him hit on seven-of-11 from the floor, including five-of-seven from three-point range.

With Williams hitting a pair of three-pointers just 51 seconds into the game, the Eagles never really looked back en route to registering their second home win of the young season.  Holding a 16-8 lead, Emory went on a 15-6 scoring run, started by a Williams three-pointer and fueled further by Davet's eight points, to build a 31-14 cushion with 10:32 left in the half.  However, the Tigers weren't done as they regrouped to score 14 of the game's next 16 points to slice the Emory lead to five points with 6:45 on the clock.  But the Eagles responded with Davet scoring the first five and Williams adding the final two of a 7-0 burst that stretched their lead to 40-28 with 5:40 left.  Emory eventually took a 51-38 margin into the break with Davet and Williams scoring 19 and 14 points, respectively.

Lawrence Rowley, who finished with 12 points on the day, scored eight of Emory's opening 11 points in the second half, helping the squad boost its lead to 62-43.  Morrison made his presence felt in a big way later in the stanza by scoring 11 straight Eagle points, six via a pair of three-pointers, over a two-minute stretch that upped their cushion to 75-54.  A triple by Morrison with 4:26 left gave the Eagles their first 30-point advantage of the afternoon while back-to-back treys by sophomore Pierre Coffy further ballooned the Eagles to a 37-point edge with 91 ticks left.

Emory saw a season-best 56 percent (42-of-75) of its field goal attempts hit the mark, the 18th-highest mark in school history, while its 42 field goals tied the fourth-highest effort.  Included in the Eagles' total was a torrid 63.9 percent (23-of-36) showing over the final 20 minutes of action that aided in a 65-39 scoring advantage, the highest point total in a half by a Zimmerman-coached Emory team.

The Eagles continue a five-game home stand on Wednesday (Dec. 5) when they play host to LaGrange College in a 7:00 pm tip.