Senior Matthew Schner scored a career-high 31 points Friday night as the No. 24 ranked Emory University men's basketball team earned a wire-to-wire victory over Brandeis University in Atlanta, GA.
With the 83-75 win against the Judges, the Eagles have now won four straight and eight of their last nine to improve to 12-4 overall and 5-1 in the UAA, moving into sole possession of first place in the conference standings with eight games remaining. Brandeis drops its second in a row as it falls to 8-4 on the season and 1-2 in the UAA.
Schner logged all 40 minutes as he shot 13-of-20 from the field to record his seventh outing with 25 or more points this season. Junior Max Fried, drawing his second straight starting assignment, had a season-best 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbed five rebounds, tied for the team lead. Senior Nick Stuck added 11 points and doled out eight assists for the second straight contest.
Brandeis was led in the scoring column by Collin Sawyer as the guard finished with 26 points, shooting 50%, 9-for-9 from the line and knocked down three three-pointers, becoming the fifth Judge in program history to reach the 200 mark in made threes in a career. Nolan Haggerty joined Sawyer as the only other starter in double figures, posting 11 points, while Chandler Jones went for 10 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.
The Eagles jumped out to the fast start, forcing three early turnovers and converting them all into buckets to take the early 8-0 lead. Emory extended its edge to 13 points at 22-9 on a Schner basket with 11:34 on the clock, but the Judges responded with a 12-2 run of their own over the next three minutes. Emory built its lead back to 12 with 57 seconds remaining in the half but five points by the Judges including a buzzing-beating triple by Sawyer sent the Eagles into halftime leading 44-37. Emory quickly scored the first seven points of the second half, including four from Schner, and eventually saw its lead balloon to as many as 18 midway through the second half. The Judges continued to chip away at the deficit, making it a single-digit game again but would get no closer than six points the rest of the way.
Emory closes out the month of January with a home date against New York University on Sunday beginning at 12:00 PM. The Violets carry a five-game losing skid into Sunday's action, falling to Rochester by four Friday night. As a reminder, fans will not be permitted to attend the game as Emory is operating under an orange condition until January 31.