Freshman guard Whit Rapp defends against a Brandeis University (Mass.) player. Rapp and the Eagles defeated Brandeis 89-53 after also beating them last weekend on Jan. 30, while Emory was away. The Eagles also played and lost to New York University for the second weekend in a row. | Erin Baker/Staff
This past weekend, the Emory men’s basketball team came away with an easy win over Brandeis University (Mass.) and a close loss to New York University.
In the first of two home games this weekend against University Athletic Association (UAA) opponents, the Eagles won 89-53 over Brandeis. They established a double-digit lead early in the first half and led 41-27 at halftime.
Despite a comfortable lead, junior forward Will Trawick emphasized that the team was determined to keep up the high level of play at the start of the second half, something the team has struggled with at times this season, especially in games in which Emory held a big lead.
Trawick added that Head Coach Jason Zimmerman stressed to the team that they must keep their intensity and focus coming out of the half.
The Eagles took Zimmerman’s message to heart and the team’s lead grew to 44 points in the second half with help from strong play by Emory’s reserves. To name one, sophomore forward Austin DaGue, the game’s leading scorer, contributed 19 of Emory’s 36 bench points to go along with three rebounds and two assists.
The Eagles’ two other sophomores, guard Jonathan Terry and forward Jim Gordon, were aggressive on the boards, grabbing six and four rebounds, respectively.
The Eagles gained contributions from their freshmen as well, with six assists from guard Whit Rapp, four points and one block from forward Donald Avant and a three-pointer from forward Adam Gigax, his first of the season.
“We have a culture of working especially hard and so I have confidence that everyone [on] our team can go out and get the job done,” senior forward and captain Alex Foster said.
Despite the team’s reduced minutes, senior guard and captain Mike Florin scored 10 points and dished out six assists, while Trawick had a double-double with 19 points, including five three pointers to go along with 12 rebounds.
Emory dominated in nearly every category, outshooting Brandeis 50.8 percent to 29.8 percent, out-rebounding them 43-33 and out-hustling them 15-2 in second chance points and 15-0 in fastbreak points.
Sunday would mark a rematch against the NYU Violets, who defeated the Eagles 96-92 in New York the previous week. It was once again a hard-fought, high-intensity game. Emory trailed from the start, falling behind 7-0.
NYU led 39-29 with four minutes left to play in the first half, but an 8-0 run by the Eagles, which was capped off by a block from junior guard Davis Rao that led to a fastbreak layup by Foster. The Violets outshot the Eagles 54.8 percent to 39 percent in the first half, but the Eagles only trailed 39-43 thanks to their scrappy defense and hustle.
In the first half, NYU forward Evan Kupferberg led all first-half scoring with 12 and Foster led Emory’s scorers with 11.
In a very physical second half, both teams struggled to make shots, each team shooting under 33 percent from the field. The Eagles were strong on the boards, pulling down 15 offensive rebounds that led to 21 second-chance points.
They continued to play aggressive defense, forcing the Violets to commit 11 second-half turnovers and 23 overall. With 10:14 to play, Trawick converted on a three-point play that knotted the score at 56, the first tie of the game. Foster sank a jumper with 1:34 remaining to tie the game at 70. A shot clock violation on the ensuing possession gave the Eagles the ball with a chance to take their first lead of the game. With nine seconds remaining, the Eagles called a timeout to try and draw up a final play. Florin drove to the basket, but NYU sophomore forward Patrick Burns blocked his layup attempt. NYU gained possession with one and a half seconds to play and called a timeout.
Burns inbounded the ball from under Emory’s basket, and threw a Hail Mary pass three quarters of the court, landing back in the hands of NYU forward Evan Kupferberg, who sank a layup as time expired, giving the Violets a 72-70 victory. The play was featured on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 on Sunday night.
“We played extremely hard and we had a good approach,” Foster said. “But, we just didn’t shoot well at all.”
The Eagles shot only 2-28 from behind the three point line and 34.2 percent overall.
In order to come away with the win in such a close game next time, “we need to be connected as a team for all 40 minutes,” Trawick added.
The Eagles face conference opponents Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) and the University of Chicago on Friday, Feb. 13 and Sunday, Feb. 15, respectively, at home and are looking to rebound after the frustrating double NYU loss.
-By Joseph Shapiro, Contributing Writer
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