The No. 19 ranked Emory University men's basketball team dropped its first game of the 2023-24 season Saturday afternoon, falling 83-80 in an overtime thriller on the road to Guilford College.
Sophomore Jair Knight went for a career-best 24 points as he led four Eagles in double-figure scoring to go along with a game-high five steals. Classmate Ben Pearce dropped 15 points while freshman Ethan Fauss had 13 points off the bench on 5-of-11 shooting. Guilford's Tyler Dearman posted a career-high 31 posted as he led all scorers.
Emory shot 40.6% as a team in the contest, knocking down 26-of-64 attempts including 10-for-34 from three. The Quakers went 25-for-54 (46.3%) from the field, 9-for-21 from deep, and was 24-for-29 from the charity stripe.
The Eagles began the game strong, shooting 15-for-28 in the first half as they held a 40-37 lead at the halftime break. Fauss had 10 of his 13 points across the opening 20 minutes.
Emory extended its lead to nine, its largest of the game, at 52-43 with a made Cale Martens bucket at the 16:11 mark. Guilford remained within striking distance, eventually tying the score at 55 when Dearman drilled a three with 11:19 left to play.
Both teams kept the offensive rhythm going as the lead went back-and-forth. Trailing 62-61, the Eagles went on a 6-0 run from Pearce and Knight to regain the lead. The Quakers kept the game tight as Dearman and Julius Burch made both of their free throws. Following a missed three by Martens, Guilford came down the floor and with time winding on the shot clock, Gabe Proctor nailed a three to even the score at 71.
Under 31 seconds left in regulation, GC's Luke Proctor made two free throws to push his team ahead by two (73-71). Junior Albert Fallas nearly missed a three on its next possession but a foul on the rebound sent Knight to the line for two as he made both to tie the score with five seconds to go.
As the ball came up the floor, Guilford turned the ball over as Knight went down the floor with regulation expiring. Knight tried to lay it in but was denied on the rim by Burch, forcing the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Dearman carried the Quakers as he capitalized on some foul trouble. Dearman went to the line three times and made all six free throws. As the clock hit the 1:29 mark, Dearman found a wide open Caleb Farrish on the right block for the easy lay-in and put GC ahead 81-75.
Fouls also played a role for the Quakers as the Eagles made the line three straight trips to the line but went 5-6 to trail Guilford 81-80 with 45 seconds remaining. GC ran the clock down as long as it could until Gabe Proctor hit a stepback jumper to make it a three-point game 83-80 with under 20 seconds on the clock.
Emory had two solid looks inside the final ten seconds from Martens and Pearce but neither shot was able to drop, giving the Quakers the three-point win at home.
The Eagles continue their four-game road swing to open the season as the team will travel to Birmingham, Alabama on Tuesday, November 21 for a meeting with Birmingham-Southern. Tip off with the Panthers is set for 7:00 PM ET.