The No. 24 Emory men's basketball team (12-7, 3-5 UAA) hosted the Brandeis Judges for a conference clash on Friday night, with a chance to move up the UAA standings. While a late second-half push from the Eagles brought them within reach, the Judges knocked down a few timely shots down the stretch to leave Atlanta with a 71-69 conference win on the road.
Sophomore guard Ben Pearce led all scorers in the game with 23 points to go along with his four assists. Junior Cale Martens notched his third double-double of the year, going for 13 points and grabbing 11 boards.
The game started with both teams trading blows, with Brandeis' Jake Bender knocking down a pair of threes in the first four minutes. Emory answered, though, and took a 13-8 lead with 14:55 remaining in the first half. This would be Emory's largest lead of the night.
With just under 11 minutes left in the frame, the Eagles held a 17-15 lead. However, a three from Brandies' Matthew Cadogan kicked off a 14-0 Brandeis run over the span of five minutes and the Eagles quickly found themselves in a hole, down 29-17. The Eagles' first-half offensive woes yielded a seven-minute stretch where they failed to make a field goal. Brandeis experienced a bit of a lull themselves in the final three minutes of the half, allowing the Eagles to claw back into the game and go into the break down just 36-29.
The Judges came out firing in the second frame, with Gilbert Otoo hitting a three and drawing a foul for a four-point play early in the half. Otoo made three shots from beyond the arc in the first six minutes of the period, putting the Eagles into a 54-37 hole. Despite the deficit, the Eagles continued to fight, going on a 17-4 run, sparked by threes from Pearce and freshman AJ Harris. The Eagle defense came alive over this span too, with Pearce picking up three blocks and sophomore Jair Knight adding one down the stretch as well.
The Eagles brought the game within one-point at 58-57 with five minutes remaining. Otoo nailed a three-point shot to take wind out of Emory's sails, but Knight answered with a three of his own to bring the crowd and Emory bench to their feet. Entering the final minute of the game trailing 63-60, the Eagles were forced to start fouling. The Judges knocked down their foul shots but were finding themselves getting into foul trouble as well. The Eagles and Judges traded foul shots until Pearce missed the second of two shots and Knight grabbed an offensive rebound. Junior Albert Fallas made the most of the second chance and knocked down a clutch three to bring the score to 69-67 with 16 ticks left on the clock.
Emory fouled on the ensuing inbound and the Judges converted both shots. Pearce answered with two free throws of his own after he was fouled while driving to the rim. At 71-69 with just eight seconds left, the Eagles fouled the Judges again to try and keep it a one possession game. The Judges luck at the charity stripe ran out, though, as they missed both. Emory grabbed the rebound before calling a timeout to draw up one final chance to get a last-second win. The Eagles inbounded the ball to Knight, who ran up the court and took a running three as the clock expired. He had a look from three to take the win, but his shot clattered off the back of the rim, as the Eagles saw their fifth UAA loss of the season.
With the loss, the Eagles slip to 12-7 on the season and are tied for last in the UAA, sitting at 3-5 in conference play. Emory will have a quick turnaround as they welcome the conference's top team in the No. 10 ranked NYU Violets. The Eagles fell to the Violets on the road last weekend but will have another shot at one of the nation's top teams when NYU visits Atlanta on Sunday. The game against the Violets will tip off at 12:00 PM.