A dominant second half helped the No. 22 ranked Emory University men's basketball team prevail 87-76 against No. 5 ranked University of Rochester Saturday afternoon in the University Athletic Association opener.

Freshmen Benjamin Pearce continued his torrid pace of late with a season-high 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting, his fourth straight game over 20 points while classmate Jair Knight was a catalyst off the bench, tying a season-high with 19 points and contributing eight rebounds, four steals and three assists. Sophomore Cale Martens notched his second straight double-double, going for 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

For the Yellowjackets, three starters were in double figures with Ross Gang leading the way with 16 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Matt Wiele totaled 13 points with Mitchell Kershner knocking down a team-best three triples as he posted 12 points.

An evenly contested first half saw Emory trail at the break by three, 41-38. Pearce was the lone scorer in double digits with 12 points through the opening 20 minutes as he started the game 5-for-7 from the floor and 2-for-3 from behind the arc.

Rochester maintained its lead until back-to-back threes from Knight and classmate Tyson Thomas put the Eagles back in front 58-54 with 14:19 remaining. The teams traded barbs from there with UR responding with a 5-0 run before the Eagles countered with a Martens basket and a Logan Shanahan triple with 11:15 to play.

The Eagles held the lead from there before seeing the score evened up again at 67 just under the eight minute mark. Emory proceeded to rattle off a 13-1 run, with seven points from Pearce, across the next four minutes to seize the lead for good.

Emory went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch and saw a thunderous dunk by Knight in the closing minute to round out the 11-point win.

The Eagles will be back home next weekend for a UAA double against Carnegie Mellon and No. 9 Case Western Reserve.