The Emory men's basketball team (15-10, 6-8 UAA) played its final game of the regular season on Friday night, taking on the Rochester Yellowjackets at home. Prior to the game against the Yellowjackets, the Eagles honored their seniors Max Fried and Matteo Whelton as well as team manager Jaclyn Gang with a Senior Night celebration. Emory sent off their seniors in style and ended its regular season on a high note, pulling out a 79-76 win in their final home game.
Sophomore guard Ben Pearce led the way for Emory, scoring 15 points while picking up five boards and two assists. Meanwhile, junior Cale Martens scored 11 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman AJ Harris was once again key coming off the bench, scoring a few pivotal points down the stretch and scoring nine points while grabbing seven rebounds.
Despite the high final score, the two offenses both lagged a bit out of the gate. After more than five minutes had ticked off the clock, the Eagles were trailing 10-4.
However, around the 12-minute mark, the Eagle offense woke up. Sparked by a layup and a three-pointer from Harris on back-to-back possessions, the Eagles went on a 13-4 run over the span of three minutes.
Leading 21-18 a little more than halfway through the first period, the Eagles looked keep their foot on the gas. Pearce and sophomore Jair Knight took the game over, spearheading a 23-9 run over the next seven minutes. Knight and Pearce scored eight points apiece on the run, with Pearce knocking down two threes and Knight hitting one of his own. Freshman Ethan Fauss splashed a three to finish off the run and with 1:53 remaining in the half, Emory led 44-27.
Needing a spark, the Yellowjackets turned to Corvin Oprea. Oprea knocked down two threes and a layup to lead an 11-0 Rochester run over the final minute-and-a-half of the first period. After opening the game shooting 0-10 from beyond the arc, the Yellowjackets exploded to hit 4-5 down the stretch of the first half.
The Eagles went into the break with a 44-38 lead, shooting 47.1% from the field and 40% from three-point range. Pearce and Knight led the scoring for Emory with eight points each in the first frame.
The Yellowjackets came out of the break picking up right where they left off. Oprea knocked down three three-point shots in the opening couple of minutes to keep the pressure on Emory. But the Eagles continued to answer with shots of their own to maintain the lead before calling a timeout with 16:41 remaining.
Rochester came out of the timeout firing, though, going on an 11-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 59-50 lead. The Eagles' 17-point lead from the first half had quickly disappeared, and they needed something to get them back in the game quickly. Fauss delivered a major boost when he swatted a three-point attempt on defense before knocking down a transition three-pointer to jumpstart a 10-0 run to regain a 60-59 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Both offenses continued to make shots, trading the lead back-and-forth over the next eight minutes. With 1:32 remaining, Knight hit a jumper for his first points of the half to take a 77-76 lead. The Yellowjackets missed a layup on the ensuing possession. With 49 ticks left on the clock, the Eagles still had to take a shot to avoid a shot clock violation. The Eagles shot and missed but grabbed three offensive rebounds on one possession to knock more than 30 seconds off the clock. Rochester fouled Fallas on the third and final offensive rebound, and he converted both of his shots to extend the lead to 79-76.
Rochester called a timeout to draw up a play to potentially tie the game, but the Yellowjackets' three-pointer rattled off the iron and fell short as the Eagles pulled out the win in the season finale. The Eagles finished the game shooting 43.7% from the field and knocked down nine three-pointers in the win.
With the victory, the Eagles conclude their regular season at 15-10 and 6-8 in the UAA. Emory will now await its postseason fate when the NCAA announces its Division III 64-team playoff field on Monday. The NCAA's selection show will air on Monday, February 26th starting at 1:00 PM. A livestream of the show will be available on NCAA.com.