By Jacob Spitzer
Contributing Writer
The men's basketball team continued their strong start on Saturday, beating Guilford College (N.C.) 77-75 with a buzzer-beating jumper from senior point guard Michael Florin. Emory's win improves their record to 2-0 for the season.
"It's a moment you dream about," Florin said about the shot.
The Eagles outshot the Guilford Quakers with a 43.7 field goal percentage as opposed to Guilford's 34.2, and out rebounded the Quakers 46 to 43. However, the Eagles had a lower free throw percentage at 50 percent to 84.2 and more turnovers at 13 to 8.
Florin and senior forward Alex Foster continued their strong streak, scoring 21 and 23 points, respectively. In a break out game, sophomore forward Austin DaGue also scored double digits with 11 points.
"We expected a tough game," Head Coach Jason Zimmerman said. "Guilford has a very good program. It is traditionally a very solid team."
The teams went back and forth for the first five minutes with Emory pulling ahead by nine by the middle of the first half, maintaining their lead until the end of the half with a score of 42-31.
Guilford began heating up, going ahead 57-53 by the middle of the second half.
"We made a couple of defensive mistakes on two or three of the possessions in the first three minutes of the second half," Zimmerman explained.
The Quakers' run was aided by a lack of strong Emory defense, according to Foster.
"Defensively, [we were] kind of a step behind, not as focused" Foster said. "But not to take away from Guilford. They hit a lot of shots in the second half. Some of the players we knew could heat up heated up."
Emory and Guilford alternatively had big runs, with Emory making a 14-1 run to gain a nine-point lead with 7:11 to play in the game.
With 1:24 remaining on the clock, Guilford was within two of Emory. Following two Guilford free throws, the score was tied. With .4 seconds remaining, Florin took the game winning shot to finish out the game.
"My last buzzer beater since fourth grade," Florin joked.
As their season's first extremely close game, the contest served as a learning experience for the Eagles.
"We're going to be in close games throughout the season," Foster said. "One thing is that is going to benefit us is knowing we can rely on our players to have the ability to close them."
Guilford junior forward Jonny Rice and senior guard Matt McCarthy lead their team with 16 points each. Sophomore forward Trever Hyatt added to their contributions, notching another 15 points.
Emory started last season with a 1-2 record over its first three games last season in sharp contrast to its 2-0 start to this season.
"We were losing games and later found our groove in the later season," Foster said. "We're off to a good start and hoping to maintain that."
Zimmerman doesn't want the team's winning record to change how hard they work. His players still have a lot to improve upon, he said.
"It doesn't matter if you're 11-0 or 0-11, there is always something to improve," Zimmerman said. "Winning just gives you confidence."
The Eagles have the ultimate goal of taking a national championship title this sea
son, according to Florin.
"We have the attitude we can win every game," he said. "Our goal is to win the [national] championship this year."
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Woodruff Physical Education Center (WoodPEC) to take on the LaGrange College (Ga.) Panthers.
– By Jacob Spitzer, Contributing Writer
Florin Buzzer-Beater Tops Guilford
Senior Michael Florin defends against Guilford College (N.C.). Florin would go on to score 21 points, including the game-winning shot with four-tenths of a second left in the game. Photo by Mark Spicer/Staff.
