In two conference road games over the weekend, the men's basketball team took care of the competition, winning both games and improving the squad's overall record to 15-7, with a 7-4 conference mark.
In Friday's game, Emory faced off with the 10-10 Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) Tartans, as the Eagles attempted to avenge a home loss to the Tartans in January. After a close first half, the Eagles had a strong second period, outscoring the Tartans 57-42 and riding some accurate shooting to a 100-86 victory.
The first half featured some exciting, fast-paced play, as each team appeared evenly matched the whole way.
After going up 30-20, the Eagles surrendered nine straight points, as the Tartans climbed within a point. From there, both teams battled back and forth, and Carnegie Mellon entered halftime with a one-point lead.
Needing a strong second half to secure an important road conference win, the Eagles came up big, shooting lights-out to put away the Tartans. In the second half, the Eagles shot 57.1 percent from the field, riding senior Jake Davis' 19 points.
Up 76-69 with over six minutes remaining in the game, the Eagles went on an 11-2 run to go up by 16 points.
When Carnegie Mellon cut the lead to seven points, senior McPherson Moore scored five straight points to extend the lead to 12 and effectively end the game.
The top performers for the Eagles were Davis and Moore, two of the UAA's leading scorers, who finished with 33 and 24 points, respectively. It was Davis' 14th game of 20 or more points in his impressive season.
Also finishing in double figures were junior Alex Foster who had 14 points and junior Mike Florin who had 13 points.
Emory shot 50.7 percent from the floor, while they held Carnegie Mellon to 41.2 percent.
One of the keys to Emory's victory was the team's dominance in the paint, where the Eagles outscored the Tartans 44-26.
After Friday's win, the Eagles traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, where they matched up with the 13-8 Case Western Reserve Spartans.
Emory started off the game strong, going into halftime with a fifteen-point lead, and were able to hold off the Spartans, winning the road game 84-68.
In the first half, Moore led the Eagles with 14 points, with Emory shooting 53.1 percent from the floor. Using a 14-4 run and a 7-0 run at two different points in the half, the Eagles were able to jump out to an early 41-26 lead going into halftime.
Attempting to put away the Spartans, the Eagles started off the second half strong, going on a 12-5 run.
The closest the Spartans got to the Eagles after that was within fifteen points, as Emory took a 27-point lead with over six minutes remaining. With that, Emory secured a convincing road victory over a tough Case Western squad 84-68.
Emory used a balanced scoring effort and a strong defensive performance to win the game. The Eagles had five double-digit scorers, led by Moore's 20, followed by Davis and Foster, who each had 15 points. Rounding out the rest were Florin with 12 points and five assists and junior Josh Schattie who came off the bench to score 10 points.
Emory forced 23 CWRU turnovers, including 17 steals, which allowed the Eagles to outscore the Spartans 30-2 in points off turnovers.
Asked about what led to the two victories, Moore wrote in an email to the Wheel: "We played well this weekend because we operated as a single unit. Everyone was on the same page."
Looking ahead, the Eagles have two conference home games next weekend, beginning with Emory facing off with New York University on Friday, Feb. 21.
– By Ethan Morris
Photo by James Crissman
