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In a midway season battle for sole possession of first place in the University Athletic Association, No. 3-ranked Washington University emerged with a 65-56 win over Emory University Sunday afternoon at the Woodruff PE Center.  The Bears raised their overall record to 16-2, 6-1 in the UAA, following the victory over the Eagles who slipped to 13-5 overall, 5-2 in the conference.

Emory ended the contest shooting 35.6 percent from the floor (21-of-59) while Wash U. connected on 47.2 percent (25-of-53).  While the Eagles knocked down 11 three-point field goals to the Bears' seven treys, and turned the ball over just 11 times compared to the visitor's 18 miscues, Wash U. held a firm 42-27 advantage in rebounding.

Freshman Alex Greven was Emory's lone double-figure scorer with 12 points which  came on the strength of four three-point field goals.  Greven also tied senior Chad Hixon for team honors with five rebounds.  Senior Daniel Curtin added nine points to the cause.

Sean Wallis led the Wash U scoring attack with a game-high 16 points while Aaron Thompson contributed 13 points and eight rebounds.

The early stages of the game was back-and-forth affair with Emory holding a slim 13-10 margin with 12:23 left in the stanza following a three-pointer by Greven.  Emory then hit a cold spell and the Bears used that to rattle off a 12-0 run to mount a 22-13 advantage with 6:44 left.  Another three-point by Greven drew Emory to within six points with 3:41 on the clock but an 8-0 Bears' spurt, keyed by three-pointers by Thompson and Wallis, built Wash U's lead to 14 points.  Eventually, Emory trailed at the intermission by a 39-26 count. 

The Bears extended their cushion to 17 points, 45-28, with 16:03 left on the clock before Emory responded with a 17-8 charge to cut the gap to eight points, 53-45, with 7:34 left.  The Eagles used five three-pointers in that stretch with Greven hitting two and sophomore Alex Gulotta, freshman Michael Friedberg and sophomore Austin Claunch accounting for the others from distance. However, that would be as close as Emory would get as it saw its six-game winning streak come to an end.

The Eagles return to action next Friday (Feb. 5) when it plays at the University of Chicago.