Sophomore Jonathan Terry, senior Michael Florin junior Davis Rao combined for 51 points in leading the Emory men's basketball team to a Saturday afternoon win over Rochester. The Eagles captured the University Athletic Association title on an outright basis following an 88-69 decision over the Yellowjackets, raising their overall record to 20-5 overall, 10-4 in the league. With the outright crown, Emory secures the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament that starts next weekend.
Terry scored 18 points while Florin and Rao added 17 and 16 points, respectively, as the Eagles upped their home record to 13-1. Terry knocked down seven-of-eight from the field, including four-of-five from three-point range, en route to his eighth double-figure scoring performance of the season. Florin, who was successful on five-of-nine from the field and seven-of-nine from the charity stripe, dished out six assists and came up with one steal over 30 minutes of play. Rao drained four triples in five tries on the day and tied senior Alex Foster for the team lead with seven boards. Sophomore Austin DaGue (13 pts.) and Foster (11 pts.) also reached double-figure scoring.
It is the fourth UAA crown in the 29-year history of the program with other titles coming in 1989, 1990 and 2013.
After building a 14-point lead at halftime, Emory led by as many as 16 on five occasions during the opening minutes of the second half and held a 14-point margin at 69-55 with 11:53 left in the contest following a bucket by Florin. The Yellowjackets got back into the game with a 14-2 run, with seven points coming from Jared Seltzer in that stretch, slicing the Eagles' advantage to 71-69 with 7:59 on the clock. However, Rochester was held scoreless over the remainder of the game, missing its final seven field goal tries while turning the ball over on four occasions, as the Eagles recorded the final 17 points of the day, seven from Terry, in nailing down the victory.
Emory finished the contest hitting 51.7 percent (31-of-60) from the floor compared to UR's effort of 46.4 percent (26-of-56). The Eagles were successful on 50 percent (9-of-18) from three-point range and converted 73.9 percent (17-of-23) from the foul line, their seventh straight performance of 70 percent or better from the stripe. Though it was outrebounded by a 34-27 margin, Emory forced 17 UR turnovers that it parlayed into 19 points.
Rochester held an 11-6 lead in the first half before back-to-back triples by Rao, keyed a 13-1 Emory blitz that put the Eagles up by a 19-12 count with 9:36 left in the stanza. After a tip-in by UR's Zack Ayers narrowed Emory's cushion to 24-20, Terry knocked down a pair of three pointers as part of an 8-0 Emory charge that pushed it to a 32-20 lead with 5:30 on the clock. The Yellowjackets stayed within striking distance, down eight with 2:12 remaining, but Florin closed out the final 1:43 of the half by scoring six unanswered points that gave the Eagles a 46-32 bulge at the intermission. Florin, Rao and DaGue all scored 10 points for Emory during the opening 20 minutes of action with the Eagles hitting 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the floor including four-of-eight from three-point range.
Prior to the games, Emory conducted Senior Day ceremonies with the program recognizing the contributions of Max Davis, Michael Florin, Alex Foster and Josh Schattie.
The NCAA Division III Tournament bracket will be released on Monday, Mar. 2, at 12:30 pm on ncaa.com