The Emory men’s basketball team continued their strong season over the break, beating the University of Rochester (N.Y) Yellowjackets 84-69 and bringing their record to an impressive 11-1 record.
“I’ve never won at Rochester,” senior forward Alex Foster said. “In [Emory’s] history we’ve only won at Rochester twice.”
The Eagles outshot the Yellowjackets with a 46.6 field goal percentage over Rochester’s 44.6. Emory also out rebounded Rochester with 43 over Rochester’s 33, and the Eagles impressed with 18 fast break points over Rochester’s 6.
“It was a tough game,” Emory Head Coach Jason Zimmerman said. “Rochester is traditionally a very tough team.”
Foster had one of his strongest games of the season, scoring 34 of Emory’s 84 total points and rebounding 13 of Emory’s 43 rebounds. Senior guard Josh Schattie was the only other Emory player to score in the double digits with 14 points.
For his continuing success over the course of the season, Foster was recognized as the University Athletic Association (UAA) Player of the Week for the third time this season and earned a spot on D3hoops.com’s Team of the Week.
“I’m obviously honored,” Foster said. “But they usually give that award to an individual on a winning team. It’s more a testament to how well our team has been playing as a whole.”
Zimmerman complimented Foster on his excellent play and attitude.
“He works really hard. His game keeps getting better,” Zimmerman said. “He plays with great poise and pace.”
Rochester junior forwards Jared Seltzer and Dylan Peretz scored 12 and 16 points, respectively, leading the Yellowjackets along with sophomore guard Sam Borst-Smith who scored 16 points. When asked about what has contributed to Emory’s stellar season, Zimmerman spoke about the improved defensive play, which the Eagles had struggled with in the beginning of the season. However, Zimmerman cited the team’s lack of consistency as his main focus for improvement.
“We’ll play really well for stretches,” Zimmerman said. “We’ll have a length of time where we play really good defense and rebound really well, but then we’ll loosen up. We need to work on being more consistent if we want to continue winning.”
With the strength of the Eagles season so far, the UAA championship game seems to be on the horizon.
“That’s not how I like to look at it,” Zimmerman said. “We focus on trying to win each individual game as they come.”
Emory returns to action on Friday, Jan. 16 at 9 p.m. against the Washington University in St. Louis Bears.
— By Jacob Spitzer, Staff Writer
