Junior Matt Schner led four double-figure scorers with 20 points and the Emory men's basketball team held off a late-game charge in posting a Saturday afternoon win at the University Rochester. The No. 12-ranked Eagles raised their overall record to 21-4, 11-3 in the University Athletic Association, following an 80-76 decision over the Yellowjackets who fell to 16-9, 7-7 in the league. Emory's triumph combined with Washington University's loss at Chicago allow the Eagles to tie WU for the UAA title. Emory will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA D-III Tournament by virtue of its two wins over the Bears this season.
Schner ended the afternoon converting eight of his 15 field goal tries, including four treys in seven attempts, in posting his 21st double-figure scoring game of the season and fifth of 20 or more points. He also contributed four steals and a pair of blocked shots. Junior Lawrence Rowley came through with his fifth double-double of the campaign, pouring in 17 points on six-of-10 field goal shooting and three-of- three from the stripe, while grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds. Junior Matt Davet and sophomore Mason Johnson rounded out the double-digit producers with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Junior Nick Stuck doled out eight assists and chipped in six points.
A 7-1 Emory spurt, capped by a Schner triple, gave it a 60-52 lead with 10:54 on the clock. The Eagles still maintained an eight-point edge before a Davet three-pointer with 6:08 remaining gave the visitors their first double-digit advantage of the day, 68-57. A jumper by Schner gave Emory the first of a two 13-point cushions, the final one coming with 4:17 left after Johnson hit a jumper in the paint that pushed the Eagles to a 72-59 bulge. Back-to-back buckets by UR cut its deficit to nine points, but with Emory going six-for-six at the stripe over a 31-second stretch, it still maintained an 11-point lead, 78-67 with 1:44 remaining. A three-pointer by UR's Trent Noordsij cut the Eagles' lead to eight and when Emory turned the ball over on its next possession, the Yellowjackets capitalized when Patrick Benka knocked down a trey, narrowing the gap to five points with 1:15 left. After another Emory turnover, Rochester's Kailan Lee sank a three-pointer with 48 ticks left that drew the home side to a pair. Emory then came up empty on its next possession which gave UR the chance to tie or take the lead. Benka launched a three-point attempt that missed and the Yellowjackets weren't able to convert on a tip attempt. Stuck got the rebound and was fouled resulting in him going to the line where he sank a pair to close out the game.
Rochester outshot Emory, sinking 55.1 percent (27-of-49) from the field while the Eagles checked in at 46.4 percent (26-of-56). Three-point shooting proved to be key with Emory connecting on 12-of-28 from distance compared to the Yellowjackets' 6-of-21. Emory is 12-2 this season when converting 10 or more from beyond the arc.
It is the second straight year and fourth in the past six seasons that Emory has won or shared the conference crown. The 21 wins are fourth most in school history while the 11 victories in league play tie the second-highest total.
Emory will find out what awaits it in the postseason on Monday (Mar. 2) when the bids to the NCAA Tournament are announced at 12:30 pm on ncaa.com