The Emory University men's basketball team celebrated Senior Day with a 76-74 victory over University of Rochester Saturday afternoon at the Woodruff PE Center in Atlanta, GA.
The Eagles honored seniors Matthew Schner, Nick Stuck and graduate student Romin Williams with a ceremony prior to tip off. The trio now stands 84-21 during their careers together, the highest winning percentage of any class in Emory men's basketball history.
Emory closes out the regular season 19-5 and 12-2 in the University Athletic Association, winning the UAA by 3.5 games. The 12-2 conference record matches the 2017-18 team for the second-best finish in league play in program history. The Eagles now await their first round opponent in the NCAA tournament which will be unveiled at 12:30 PM Monday afternoon during the selection show on NCAA.com.
The Schner, Stuck and Williams trio combined for 52 of the team's 76 points with freshman Cale Martens adding 10 points. Schner led all scorers with 27 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Stuck finished with 15 points, nearly posting a double-double with nine assists and grabbing five rebounds. Williams became the fifth player in program history to eclipse 1,500 points in a career as he recorded 10 points and three assists.
For the Yellowjackets, guard Ross Gang highlighted four Rochester players in double figures with a team-high 15 points. Trent Noordsij had 13 points and Dan Masino contributed 11.
Schner was red-hot to start the game, scoring 15 of the team's 26 points through the opening nine minutes to give Emory a 26-12 lead. However, Rochester battled back with two different spurts of 12-2 and 8-2 to trail by two, 36-34, heading into the halftime break.
After the intermission, the Eagles built their lead back to double-digits following an 11-2 start to the second half that was bookended with a pair of Schner jump shots. The visitors once again came clawing back, eventually taking the lead at 58-57 with 8:05 remaining thanks to a 13-2 run.
Two free throws by Martens and a Schner layup put Emory back on top, 61-58. UR answered with a tip-in basket to cut the lead to one, but five straight points by the Eagles helped them pull ahead 66-60 with under four minutes left with the run highlighted by a huge three-pointer from Schner.
Emory grew the lead to eight with under three minutes to go, but Rochester hit a couple shots down the stretch to stay in the game, answering each time the Eagles would score on the other side of the floor.
In the final minute, UR's defense made a stop when Williams was blocked, but a turnover at the other end gave Emory the ball right back. Stuck sank two free throws to push Emory ahead by six.
Noordsij missed a three, but an offensive rebound by Brian Amabilino Perez gave UR the ball back. Perez was fouled on the rebound and sank both free throws. Emory was fouled on the inbounds play and missed the front end of the one-and-one, giving Rochester the ball back with under 20 seconds left.
Another offensive board by Amabilino Perez resulted in a jump ball, with possession staying with Rochester. Noordsij sank a layup with five seconds left and UR was just down two. After a timeout, Rochester forced an Eagle turnover, as a bad pass was sent out of bounds by the Eagles, allowing the Yellowjackets on last chance. The play went to Noordsij who mustered a shot right before the buzzer sounded by his shot clanked off the iron as Emory collected its third straight thrilling victory.