Junior Austin Claunch scored a career-high 27 points to lead five double-figure scorers on Sunday as the Emory men’s basketball team recorded a victory at New York University.  The Eagles raised their record to 14-4, 5-2 in the University Athletic Association, following an 87-78 decision over the Violets who fell to 12-6 overall, 1-6 in the league.

Claunch, who logged all 40 minutes, finished the afternoon sinking seven-of-12 from the floor and 13-of-16 from the charity stripe in registering his 15^th double-figure scoring game of the season and fourth of 20 or more points.  His free throws total tied the fourth-highest individual single-game total in school history.  Freshman Jake Davis was next up on the Eagles’ scoresheet with 15 points, hitting seven-of-11 from the floor, while junior Alex Gulotta (12 pts.), senior Julien Williams (10 pts.) and sophomore Michael Friedberg (10 pts.) rounded out the team’s double-digit point producers.

Emory shot 47.6 percent (30-of-63) from the floor compared to the Violets’ effort of 43.1 percent (22-of-51).  The Eagles compiled a slight 36-34 edge in the rebounding department and were led by Friedberg’s seven boards. Emory snared 15 offensive rebounds which led to an 18-10 advantage in second-chance points.

Emory held a 46-37 lead with 19:27 left in the second half before having four players score two points apiece in an 8-0 run that boosted its margin to 17 points, 54-37, with 16:42 left in the affair.  Emory still maintained a 14-point cushion with 13:47 on the clock before using a 15-6 run, keyed by a rare four-point play by Gulotta, to take a commanding 73-50 lead with 9:18 left.  NYU did manage to stage a late rally to draw to within eight points with 2:15 left, but Claunch helped seal the outcome by converting seven-of-eight free throws over the last 1:33 in helping Emory secure its fourth straight win at the Coles Center on the NYU campus.

Emory shot 52.0 percent (16-of-31) from the floor in the first half compared to NYU’s 41.0 percent (9-of-22) in claiming a 44-35 lead at halftime.  The Eagles spread out their scoring during the opening 20 minutes of play with Claunch picking up 12 points, hitting five-of-eight from the floor, while junior Justin Resnick came off the bench to score all of nine of his points.  Friedberg registered eight points while Davis and Gulotta each each came through with seven points. Emory had a 16-14 lead with 12:09 left in the half before going on a 20-8 scoring burst that saw it sink four triples in that stretch, two by Resnick, in taking its biggest lead of the stanza, 36-22, with 4:09 remaining.  Eight straight points by the Violets drew them to within six points with 2:11 on the clock, but a couple of buckets by Claunch over the rest of the half helped Emory to its nine-point lead.

The Eagles return to action on Friday (Feb. 4) when they host Brandeis University in an 8:00 p.m. start.