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Emory Men's Basketball Second Half Rally Comes Up Short At Chicago

Emory Men's Basketball Second Half Rally Comes Up Short At Chicago

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The Emory men's basketball team unleashed a barrage of three-point field goals in the second half at the University of Chicago on Friday evening as it attempted to rally from a 21-point halftime deficit, but the Eagles' comeback bid came up short as the Maroons escaped with a win.  Emory saw its overall record slip to 13-6, 5-3 in the University Athletic Association following a 73-68 setback to Chicago who upped its overall mark to 10-9, 4-4 in the league.

After hitting just three-of-14 from beyond arc in the first half, Emory sank nine-of-15 (60 percent) from distance over the final 20 minutes of play.  Sophomore Alex Gulotta keyed the onslaught hitting four treys en route to scoring all 13 of his team-high tying points in the second stanza.  Senior Anthony Fernandez picked up 13 points while junior Julien Williams contributed 12 points, his second-highest total of the season.  Rounding out the squad's double-digit scorers were sophomore Austin Claunch and senior Chad Hixon with 10 points apiece.

For the game, Emory shot 32.9 percent from the floor (20-of-51) while the host Maroons finished at 46.8 percent (22-of-47).  The Eagles connected on 41.4 percent from three-point range (12-of-29), their third straight outing of 10 or more makes from distance, while UC converted just three-of-14 (21.4 percent).  Chicago did hold a big edge at the charity stripe, knocking down 26-of-37 while Emory countered with 16 makes in 26 trips to the line. 

Facing a 41-20 gap at the start of the second half, the Eagles scored the first eight points of the stanza with three-pointers by Williams and Gulotta the big shots.  Chicago then countered with an 8-3 run to push its advantage back to 18 points, 49-31, with 15:20 left in the game.  Undaunted, Emory responded with a 16-3 run that saw it hit four treys over a seven-minute stretch to draw to within five points, 52-47, with a little more than eight minutes remaining.  The Eagles stayed on the heels of the Maroons and a three-pointer by Gulotta with 4:38 on the clock further cut into the home team's lead, 59-58.  The Eagles would trail by one point on four more occasions, the final time with 21 ticks left when a basket by Williams made the score 69-68 in UC's favor. After a free throw by the Maroons' Steve Stefanou, the Eagles' bid to tie the game missed and Chicago hit free throws to close out the game's scoring.

A three-pointer by Emory freshman Alex Greven knotted the score at 13-13 with 11:42 left in the first half.  The Maroons then scored the game's next six points to take a 19-13 edge at the midway point of the stanza.  Emory trailed by a 21-17 count with 8:24 left before the Maroons closed out the half on a 20-4 burst that enabled it to claim the 41-20 lead heading into halftime. Stefanou scored seven of his 12 first-half points in that spurt while Jake Pancratz added six.  Chicago wound up the half shooting 57.1 percent from the floor (16-of-28) while the Eagles hit on 23.1 percent (six-of-26).  Claunch led the Eagles with six points in the opening half.

Emory returns to action on Sunday when it plays at No. 3-ranked Washington University.