Junior Jonathan Terry scored 14 of his team-high 21 points in the second half in sparking the Emory men's basketball team to a thrilling victory over Washington University on Sunday. The Eagles won their sixth straight game and improved their overall record to 15-5, 8-1 in the University Athletic Association, after registering a 74-73 triumph over the Bears who slipped to 10-10 overall, 2-7 in the league.
Terry closed out the final 20 minutes of action by converting five-of-seven field goals, including three three-point field goals. Terry made a huge impact during a two-minute stretch late in the game, accounting for all of Emory's points during a 9-2 spurt that turned a one-point Wash U lead to a six-point Emory advantage with 3:32 remaining. Terry started his run with a four-point play, followed by a triple and then a bucket. The Bears crept back to within one point with 1:45 left, but a clutch three pointer by senior Will Trawick pushed Emory to a four-point lead at 72-68. A basket by WU's Kevin Kucera sliced Emory's lead in half with 58 seconds left. After an Emory miss from the floor, WU had a chance to knot the score, but missed a pair of free throws with nine seconds remaining. Adam Gigax grabbed the miss and then was fouled, whereupon he calmly sank two free throws, enabling the Eagles to go up 74-70 with just seven ticks left. Kucera kept WU's hopes alive when he knocked down a trey, his fifth of the game, with three seconds remaining. After Emory missed the front end of a one-and-one, a last-ditch three-point attempt by the Bears missed its mark.
Terry, ended the afternoon, seven-of-13 from the floor in registering his 11th double-figure scoring performance of the season and second of 20 or more points. Senior Davis Rao chipped in 15 points, making five field goals in 11 opportunities, including three treys. Trawick contributed 14 points while junior Austin DaGue rounded out the team's double-figure scorers with 10 points. Sophomore Whit Rapp directed the Eagles' offense to the tune of 11 assists, his fifth double-digit total of the campaign.
Emory opened the second half on a 7-0 run to stake itself to a 44-38 lead. The Bears countered with a 9-1 blitz, capped by a three pointer from Luke Silverman-Lloyd, to ahead by a point with 15:06 remaining. A bucket by Terry followed by back-to-back layups by DaGue ignited a 6-0 Emory run, but WU fought back with a 9-3 charge that put it ahead by a 56-55 margin with 9:30 on the clock. A three pointer by Rao capped five straight points by Emory, but the Bears responded with a 5-0 run of their own that gave them a one-point edge with 5:44 left.
Wash U outshot Emory from the floor, finishing with an effort of 45.3 percent (24 of 53), while the Eagles closed out the day at 41.3 percent (26 of 63). The Bears drained 11-of-23 three-point opportunities, with Emory converting the same number in 29 tries. Kucera led WU in scoring with 21 points while David Schmelter added 16 points.
The game featured a total of 13 lead changes, seven in the second half.
In a closely played first half, Wash U held a 38-37 lead heading into halftime. The Bears hit 42.3 percent (11 of 26) from the field, including 50 percent (6 of 12) from beyond the arc, while Emory was successful on 40 percent (14 of 35) from the floor, 38.5 percent (5 of 13) from distance. After a triple by the Bears' Kucera sliced an Emory lead to a single digit, a bucket by DaGue, followed by a three pointer by Rapp, gave the Eagles their largest lead of the opening half, 23-17, with 9:24 left. Later in the stanza, a 7-0 WU spurt, which featured a trey by Kucera, erased a five-point Emory lead, giving the visitors a 28-26 edge with 4:50 on the clock. Emory responded with an 8-2 run, keyed by triples from Trawick and freshman Beau Bommarito, to re-claim a four-point lead. However, the Bears totaled eight unanswered points, capped by a three pointer by Jake Knupp, to go ahead by a 38-34 count with just a shade under a minute remaining. Emory closed out the scoring for the half when Rao knocked down a trey with three ticks on the clock. Rao paced the Emory scoring attack during the first half with eight points while Trawick and Jonathan Terry each chipped in seven points. Schmelter tallied 10 points to lead the WU effort with Kucera adding nine points.
The win keeps Emory in sole possession of first place in the UAA, one game ahead of Rochester, who defeated Chicago on Sunday. The Eagles return to action next Friday (Feb. 13) when they host New York University in an 8:00 pm tip.