Seniors McPherson Moore and Jake Davis combined for 40 points but it wasn't enough as the Emory men's basketball team dropped its final regular-season contest Saturday afternoon on the road to the University of Rochester.  The Eagles saw their record dip to 17-8, 9-5 in the University Athletic Association after a 97-83 setback to the Yellowjackets who closed out their year at 10-15 overall, 4-10 in the league.

Moore totaled a team-high 22 points, closing out the afternoon converting eight-of-15 from the field, including two triples, in registering his fifth straight and 11^th performance of 20 or more points this season.  Davis contributed 18 points, 11 over the final 20 minutes of action, in registering his 24^th double-figure scoring effort of the campaign.  Juniors Alex Foster and Michael Florin each scored 13 points, with Foster pacing the squad with seven boards, while sophomore Will Trawick rounded out the team's double-figure scorers with 11 points.

Rochester concluded the game shooting an opponent season-high 62.8 percent (27-of-43) from the floor, including 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from three-point range.  Emory converted 39.4 percent (26-of-66) of its field goal opportunities but hit just six-of-25 attempts from beyond the arc.  Both teams were solid from the foul line with the Yellowjackets successful on 33 of their 40 tries while Emory hit 25-of-28.

Emory cut a 12-point halftime deficit to seven just 2:39 into the second half as Davis scored four points and Moore three in a 7-2 Emory run.  A three-pointer by UR's Mack Montague enabled Rochester to hold a 65-55 advantage, but three pointers by Moore and Foster keyed an 8-3 spurt that sliced the Yellowjackets' lead to 68-63 with 12:09 left in the game.  A jumper by Trawick kept Emory's deficit at five points with 9:58 on the clock, but Rochester went on a 7-0 run, capped by a Montague triple, to bolt to a 12-point lead, 80-68, with 8:56 remaining.  Emory trailed by an 80-70 count after Foster hit a pair of free throws, but the Yellowjackets answered with a 9-3 burst, with Nate Vernon scoring seven of those points, to take an 89-73 bulge with 5:11 to go.  From that point, the closest Emory would get would be 12 points.  Vernon led all players with 23 points, hitting four-of-nine from the floor, including two-of-three from beyond the arc, and all 11 of his free throw attempts.  Kevin Sheehy added 22 points for the Yellowjackets.

Rochester got out of the blocks quickly, sinking 12 of their first 13 field goal attempts in taking a 31-117 lead with 11:28 left in the opening half.  A pair of free throws by Florin cut the Yellowjackets' lead to 10 points, 38-28, but Rochester went on an 8-3 run in taking a 46-31 advantage with 5:01 remaining.   A pair of free throws by Moore cut UR's lead to 10 points with 2:36 on the clock, but the Yellowjackets hit four straight free throws to extend its lead to 14 points with 1:08 remaining.  UR eventually went into halftime with a 55-43 lead, hitting 65.2 percent (15-of-23) from the floor, including 75 percent (6-of-8) from three-point range.  Emory, which was led in scoring by Moore's 11 points, was successful on 45.5 percent (15-of-33) from the field and sank all 11 of its free throw tries.  Rochester hit 19-of-22 from the stripe and scored its last 11 points of the half from the foul line over the final 5:01 of the half.   Sheehy led all players with 16 first-half points.

Emory now waits to see if it will earn an at-large bid to the NCAA D-III Tournament with the selections to the postseason being announced on Monday (Mar. 3) at 12:30 pm on ncaa.com