Emory junior Josh Schattie scored a career-high 14 points to lead three double-figure scorers but it wasn't enough as No. 25 Virginia Wesleyan rallied late to escape with a win over the Eagles Thursday evening in a game played in Virginia Beach. Emory saw its record slip to 1-2 following a 65-64 setback to the Marlins who upped their record to 2-0.
VWU's Greg Montgomery's bucket with 23 seconds left proved to be the deciding score in the contest and rallied the Marlins from a nine-point deficit that they faced with 11:52 remaining. Emory concluded the contest shooting 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the floor while the host team finished with a showing of 43.4 percent (23-of-53). Three-point shooting proved to be a difference in the outcome with the Marlins successful on eight-of-21 from distance compared to the Eagles' two-of-10.
Schattie ended the night sinking six-of-10 from the floor and both his free throw attempts en route to registering his second career double-figure scoring effort. Other double-digit scorers included sophomore Will Trawick and junior Michael Florin with 10 points apiece with Florin dishing out seven assists.
Holding a 35-34 advantage early in the second half, Emory went on a 14-6 run, with five different players scoring in that stretch, to post a 49-40 lead. The Eagles still enjoyed a 56-49 margin with 7:04 left on the clock after a jumper by senior McPherson Moore, but the Marlins scored eight unanswered points, sparked by back-to-back triples by Cameron Owens to take their first lead of the night, 57-56, with 4:39 remaining. From that point, it was a back-and-forth slugfest with a total of eight lead changes by the time the final horn sounded. Emory took a 60-59 advantage following a jumper by Schattie, only to see VWU regain the lead following a basket by Colby Heard with 2:12 left. After a Florin bucket put the Eagles ahead by one, the Marlins countered with a DJ Woodmore basket, giving the home team a 63-62 lead. Woodmore would lead all players with 17 points. Schattie scored the team's last points of the game with 53 ticks on the clock to give the Eagles the lead again but Montgomery's basket closed out the game's scoring. Emory had a final chance to win the game but missed on its attempt.
Behind eight points from Trawick and six apiece by Schattie and Florin, the Eagles enjoyed a 35-32 edge at halftime. The Eagles connected on 42.4 percent of their field goal tries (14-of-33) compared to VWU's mark of 38.5 percent (10-of-26). The Marlins hoisted 13 three-point attempts and converted four while Emory accounted for both of their treys in the first half. Emory never trailed during the opening 20 minutes of play with its biggest lead being 19-9 with 12:03 left in the stanza following a 6-0 run that was keyed by a pair of Alex Foster jumpers following steals by Florin. The Marlins drew to within two with 3:54 left following a pair of charity tosses by Woodmore, but extended its lead to six points with 2:21 on the clock after a bucket by Florin. A triple by Virginia Wesleyan's Sedric Nady, his second of the half, with 1:37 remaining closed out the stanza's scoring. Woodmore picked up nine points to lead the Marlins scoring attack in the opening half.
Emory returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 23, when it plays Methodist University in an opening-round game of the Captains Classic hosted by Christopher Newport.