The Emory men's basketball team (14-9, 5-7 UAA) traveled north to Cleveland, Ohio to take on the No. 13 ranked Case Western Reserve Spartans. Despite a career night from sophomore Jair Knight, the Eagles saw their two-game winning streak come to a halt as the Spartans converted a last second layup to secure an 86-85 win.
Knight registered career-highs in points and blocks with 29 and five, respectively. 19 of Knight's points came in the second half as he led the Eagles back from what was at one point an 11-point deficit with about nine minutes remaining in the game. Sophomore Ben Pearce was close behind with 19 points and four rebounds. Junior Albert Fallas provided a pivotal spark off the bench for the Eagles as well, knocking down four threes to bring his total to 12 points on the night.
The opening half started on the slower side, with both offenses feeling one another out. After five minutes, the Eagles held a narrow 10-9 lead after with Pearce and Knight accounting for six of those points. Once the offenses got into a bit of a groove, the first half featured runs from both teams.
Sparked by a three pointer from Case Western Reserve's Anthony Mazzeo, the Spartans went on a 15-8 run over the course of five minutes to put the Eagles in a 32-24 hole with 5:12 remaining in the first half. Yet, Knight had an impressive final few minutes of the half on both ends of the floor to keep the Eagles within striking distance. The Eagles sprinkled in a few three pointers from Fallas and Pearce to find themselves down 47-39 at the end of the half.
After 20 minutes of basketball, Pearce led the Eagles with 12 points on 5-7 shooting with Knight right behind with 10 points of his own. Mazzeo scored an impressive 17 points on 7-13 shooting to give the Spartans momentum and the lead heading into the break. The Spartans shot an impressive 42.9% from beyond the arc in the first half as well.
The Eagles and Spartans came out of the half holding steady, as the Spartans continued to hold an eight-point lead through the opening four minutes with the two teams trading shots. Then, the Eagles went on a bit of a run with Fallas hitting a shot from beyond the arc followed by freshman AJ Harris sending home two layups to bring Emory within four at 60-56.
Yet, Mazzeo and the Spartans quickly responded with an 11-6 run and it looked as if the game was getting out of hand as the Eagles were down 71-62 with few answers for the Spartan offense.
Then, Knight took over. With 7:25 remaining in the game and facing a 10 point deficit, Knight pulled up from deep and knocked down a three to provide the Eagles with the spark they needed on offense. Knight and the Eagles proceeded to go on a 15-3 run over the next five minutes to take an 84-82 lead – their first lead since the 14:30 mark in the first half. Knight scored seven of the 15 points on this run.
The Spartans tied the game back up with a layup down low to bring the score even at 84. Knight missed his layup on the ensuing possession to give the Spartans a chance to take the lead. Yet, the sophomore from Ohio locked up Mazzeo and picked up his fifth block of the game for his career high. Pearce grabbed the board and picked up a foul on the rebound, sending him to the line with a chance to take the lead. Pearce went one for two at the line, giving the Eagles an 85-84 lead with 19 seconds left on the clock.
The Spartans called timeout to draw up a play to get an open look and they did just that. Mazzeo found Colin Kahl down low as he hit a layup to take a one-point lead with eight seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Head Coach Jason Zimmerman put the ball in Knight's hands. With a hand in his face, Knight took a fadeaway jumper that fell just short. Junior Cale Martens attempted to tip in the miss, but his shot hit off the front of the iron as time expired.
With the loss, the Eagles slip to 14-9 on the season and 5-7 in UAA-play. The Eagles will have an opportunity to bounce back from the loss on Sunday as they take on the Carnegie Mellon Tartans. The game against the Tartans will tip off in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 12:00 PM.