Junior Jonathan Terry scored a team-high 19 points but it wasn't enough as the Emory men's basketball squad dropped a Friday night home decision to New York University. NYU raised its record to 18-3 overall, 7-3 in the University Athletic Association, following a 73-56 decision over the No. 24-ranked Eagles, who saw a six-game win streak come to an end and its overall record slip to 15-6, 8-2 in the league.
The second half proved to be the determining factor in the outcome as NYU outpointed Emory by a 43-22 margin. The Violets shot 53.3 percent (16 of 30) from the field over the final 20 minutes of action while the Eagles converted just 23.5 percent (8 of 34) of their opportunities, including two three pointers in 18 tries. NYU held a big edge in rebounding in the second half, grabbing 30 boards to Emory's 11, and closed out the contest with a 47-26 bulge in that category.
Trailing by four points to open the second half, NYU hit 10 of its first 13 field goals at the start of the stanza, registering a 21-10 run that gave it a 51-44 lead with 12:14 remaining. NYU senior Evan Kupferberg scored 12 of his game-high 26 points in that stretch, eventually closing out the night with 13 field goals in 17 attempts. Six straight points by Emory, four by senior Will Trawick and a pair by Terry, drew Emory to within one point, but NYU scored seven unanswered points to claim a 58-50 cushion. After a bucket by Emory's Adam Gigax, the Violets took advantage of five straight Eagle misses from the field, going on a 9-1 spurt that stretched their lead to 67-53 with 3:26 remaining.
Terry was successful on seven-of-15 field goal attempts, and knocked down four treys in posting in his 12th double-figure scoring performance of the season. Gigax was the other Emory double-digit producer with 13 points. Trawick paced the club with six caroms while sophomore Whit Rapp dished out seven assists.
NYU shot an opponent season-high 51.9 percent (28 of 54) from the floor, while Emory hit just 31.3 percent of its attempts.
Emory started slowly, hitting just two of its first 12 field goal attempts while turning the ball over seven times, allowing the Violets to hold a 15-5 lead with 10:47 left in the opening half. The Eagles then found their long-range touch with Gigax fueling a 9-2 Emory run with three three-point field goals over a 1:50 stretch that cut NYU's lead to three points. After a bucket by Kupferberg, Emory blitzed the visitors with a 13-2 charge that featured a pair of triples by Davis Rao and five points from Jonathan Terry, pushing the Eagles to a 27-21 advantage. NYU cut the gap to one point, but a three pointer in the waning seconds by Trawick, the Eagles' eighth trey of the half, gave Emory a 34-31 advantage heading into the break. Emory hit 40 percent (12 of 30) from the floor, including 42.1 percent (8 of 19) from distance, while NYU sank 50 percent (12 of 24) from the field. Terry led Emory's first-half scoring effort with 10 points and Gigax contributing nine points.
The Eagles, now tied for first place in the UAA with the University of Rochester, return to action on Sunday (Feb. 14) when they host Brandeis University in a noon tip. Prior to the game vs. the Judges, Senior Day ceremonies will be held, recognizing the contributions of Evan Coleman, Sam Heery, Davis Rao and Will Trawick, along with that of manager Maya Renaud.