Sophomore Jake Davis scored a game-high 21 points and senior Austin Claunch totaled 18 points and 10 assists but it wasn't enough as the Washington University men's basketball team posted a victory over Emory on Sunday.  The Bears upped their overall record to 15-5 overall, 7-2 in the University Athletic Association following a 92-83 decision over the Eagles who slipped to 16-4 overall, 5-4 in the conference.

WU shot 57.9 percent (33-of-57) from the floor while Emory converted 36.4 percent (24-of-66) of its field goal tries, the squad's second-lowest mark of the campaign.  The Eagles finished with just nine turnovers while the Bears totaled 18 miscues, but the No. 25-ranked WU squad managed to post a healthy 42-28 edge in the rebounding department. 

Davis concluded the afternoon hitting six-of-seven from the floor, including his lone three-point attempt, and was successful on all eight of his free throw attempts en route to his nine outing of 20 or more points this season.   In addition to Claunch's 18 points, junior Alex Greven and senior Alex Gulotta rounded out the team's double-digit scorers with 17 and 13 points, respectively.   Claunch's 10 assists was his fourth double-figure effort of the campaign and boosted his 2011-12 total to 145, good for the No. 3 spot on the school's seasonal chart.

Sparked by 69 percent (20-of-29) shooting from the field, WU staked itself to a 49-39 lead after the opening half of play.  Emory led for the majority of the first 10 minutes of the stanza, including a seven-point edge, 17-10, after a layup by Davis with 13:16 left.   Emory still held a five-point lead, 30-25, with 8:21 left on the clock following a pair of free throws by Claunch, but the Bears closed out the half on a 24-9 run, including an 8-1 spurt over the final 4:14 of the period to take the double-digit edge, just the fourth time this year the Eagles trailed at the intermission.

WU led by a 66-55 count with 11:59 left following a pair of free throws by Alan Aboona, but the Eagles responded with an 8-0 charge, started by a triple by freshman Mike Florin, followed by a bucket by Greven and capped with a three-point play by Claunch, to cut the gap to three points with 10:15 remaining.   After a jumper by Ben Hoener pushed the visitor's lead back to  eight points with 4:09 on the clock, six straight points by Emory, highlighted by a four-point play from Greven, drew Emory to within 79-77 with 3:18 remaining.   After a bucket by Matt Palucki of WU, Claunch answered with a pair of free throws to keep the Eagles within two points with 1:44 left.  However, a three-point play by the Bears' Brayden Teuscher closed out a WU 5-0 burst that pushed their lead back to seven points with 1:00 left.  A basket by Claunch six seconds later cut the deficit to five, but WU hit six-of-eight from the foul line to seal the win.   Aboona led the WU scoring effort with 16 points while senior Alex Toth contributed 15 points.

Emory returns to action next Friday (Feb. 10) when it hosts New York University in an 8:00 p.m. start.