The Emory University men's basketball team suffered more heartbreak on its final regular season road trip, falling 71-68 at Carnegie Mellon University Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh. With the score tied at 68, the Tartans' Jack Stone delivered a step-back three pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining to give CMU the home win.
Junior Logan Shanahan provided a monster game for the Eagles as he scored a team-high 19 points and registered 21 rebounds – tying Tim Garrett's program record for most rebounds in a single game which he set in the program's inaugural season in 1987. Freshman AJ Harris contributed 14 points off the bench, with 12 coming in the first half, while junior Cale Martens and sophomore Jair Knight each finished with 13 points. Senior Max Fried continued to be a presence down low, collecting a career-high 14 rebounds and dished out a team-best four assists. For the Tartans, five players finished in double figures with Justin Allen leading all players with 19 points.
A sub-par shooting start to the game combined with several turnovers saw the Eagles held to under ten points until the 11-minute mark of the first half when Fried found Harris down low for a bucket, cutting the CMU lead to 16-10. Harris kept Emory in the game in the early stages as he scored seven of the team's first 15 points and kickstarted a 7-0 Emory run to tie the game at 19-19 with 8:08 to go in the half.
Shanahan sank one of his three three-pointers on the afternoon to give Emory the lead at 24-21 at 5:53 - its first lead since Martens opened the game with a layup at 18:29. The teams traded baskets for the final five minutes of the half and went into the locker room with Emory ahead 31-30. Harris paced all scorers with 12 and Shanahan had seven points while he tied his career-high with 16 rebounds in the first half.
Shanahan carried the Eagles to begin the second half, scoring seven of the team's first 11 points as Emory led 42-37 with 14:20 remaining. Carnegie Mellon started to claw back though, eventually tying the game with free throws by Allen at 8:17. The Tartans would take their first lead of the second half on a Stone three-pointer but junior Albert Fallas quickly answered on the other end.
Fried's career-best 13th rebound led to a Knight long range shot to push Emory back in front at 56-53 but a 5-0 burst from CMU including a Buckley DeJardin three gave CMU the lead back at 58-56 with 5:12 play.
Martens and Shanahan caught fire from beyond the arc out of the timeout, helping give the Eagles a 65-60 lead with 3:20 to go with three successful treys. The Tartans stayed resilient and saw an opportunity to tie the game two minues later as Stone was fouled on the rebound following a desperation Shanahan three attempt with the shot clock dwindling with just under a minute to play. Stone went to the line and sank both attempts to level the score at 66 with 55 seconds to go.
Knight tried to give Emory the lead with a driving layup but missed, leading to a defensive rebound from RJ Holmes. Holmes was fouled by Martens, sending him to the line where made both with 24 seconds left.
On the Eagles' possession, Fallas had an open three-point shot in the corner but it clanked off the rim. Martens secured the offensive rebound which led to a layup attempt from Shanahan but he was fouled on the shot with eight seconds left. Shanahan calmly went to the line and made both of his to tie the score at 68.
The Tartans ran a play off the in-bounds, resulting in Stone swishing a step-back three with 2.1 showing on the clock. On the Eagles' in-bounds pass, Holmes intercepted it but stepped out of bounds with 0.4 to play. Emory's second in-bounds opportunity went to Knight but he could not get off a last-second shot in time, giving CMU the three-point win.
The Eagles will conclude the regular season this upcoming Friday night, February 23rd, when the team hosts Rochester on Senior Night. Prior to the 7:30 PM tipoff, Emory will honor Fried and Matteo Whelton with a special recognition.