The No. 12 ranked Emory University men's basketball team pulled out a nail-biter Friday night, defeating Averett University 65-60 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Eagles advance and will take on No. 15 ranked Wabash College in the Round of 32 at 7:10 PM Saturday night at the WoodPEC in Atlanta. The Little Giants defeated Berry College, 91-79, in their opening round game earlier Friday evening.

With the win, Emory moves to 20-5 overall and gives the class of Matthew Schner, Nick Stuck and Romin Williams 85 wins together, setting the record for the most wins by a single class in program history.

Schner and Stuck led the Eagles in the game with Schner topping all scorers with 27 points to go along with nine rebounds. Stuck recorded 12 points including five crucial points within the final four minutes. Junior Max Fried notched 11 points to round out the Emory scorers in double figures. Freshman Cale Martens was a force to be reckon with down low, posting eight points and grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds.

Jalen Rowell and Jason Sellars II paced the upset-minded Cougars with 14 and 13 points, respectively, with Corey Baldwin going for nine points and a team-best seven rebounds.

The Eagles were sluggish in the first half, going 0-for-13 from beyond the arc and were just 11-for-30 from the field. Averett went into the break with a slim 26-25 margin as Baldwin knocked down a shot right as the halftime buzzer sounded.

In the second half, both teams traded leads, staying within a possession of each other until Schner sank Emory's first 3-pointer of the game to move in front 42-38 with 12:37 remaining. The Eagles were 0-for-19 from distance before the Schner make.

Averett remained within striking distance for the next eight minutes of game play as Emory's lead stayed within two possessions until Stuck drilled a three to put the Eagles up 61-53 with 3:44 to play.

From there, the Cougars went on a 7-0 run to pull as close as 61-60 when Rowell converted from behind the arc with 1:05 remaining.

Out of a timeout, the Eagles used a screen at the top of the key to set up a driving layup by Stuck to extend the lead to 63-60 with 47 seconds to play. Averett's highly contested layup at the other end didn't fall, forcing the Cougars to eventually foul with 11.7 seconds to go. Fried knocked down both free throws, sending Emory onto the next round.