The Emory men’s basketball team’s strong season suffered a backlash, going 0-2 over the weekend as the Eagles lost to the University of Chicago (Ill.) Maroons and the Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) Bears. Their overall record now stands at 11-3.
“It sucks. Both times we could have played better,” senior forward Alex Foster said. “They’re really tough teams.”
The Bears won 80-70 against Emory, Washington outshot Emory with a 46.7 percent field goal percentage over the Eagles 33.3, and the Bears had 56 rebounds over just 37 by the Eagles.
“We were missing shots,” Head Coach Jason Zimmerman said. “We weren’t diligent enough on defense.”
Foster, junior forward Will Trawick and senior guard Josh Schattie each shot in the double digits with 14, 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Washington’s senior guard David Fatoki had a very strong offensive game, scoring 25 of their 80 total points.
Senior forwards Nick Burt and Matt Palucki scored 12 and 15 points, respectively. Senior guard Mitch Styczynski also scored double digits with 12 points.
In the second game, Chicago won 80-74. The Maroons outshot Emory, landing 45.8 percent against the Eagle’s 42.6. Chicago had 40 rebounds over Emory’s 34 and 14 assists to the Eagles’ 11.
While Chicago led most of the game, Emory went on a run in the second half. With 5:37 on the clock, Emory was up 63-61. Chicago pulled away in the final minutes finishing up by six.
“We played better in the second game,” Zimmerman said. “We were defensively stronger. We had a chance to pull it out, but unfortunately we fell a little short this time.”
Foster led Emory with 18 points, followed by senior guard Michael Florin with 17.
Junior forward Alex Voss and junior guard Jordan Smith led Chicago with 15 and 19 points, respectively.
“We’re a high paced, offensively oriented scoring team,” Foster said. “Our shots were off, I know that I personally didn’t shoot well. When that happens, it’s hard to win.”
Zimmerman doesn’t believe these losses will affect future games.
“Just like when we win both games in a weekend, we look at the next game by itself,” Zimmerman said. “We’ll learn from our losses but it won’t change our momentum.”
Foster also spoke about how the team is focused on the rest of the season.
“I’ve only gone 0-2 in an away weekend one other time at Emory,” Foster said. “It’s hard, the mood on the plane back — it was pretty solemn. But the turn around is really quick and we’re focused on getting ready for the next game. I’m looking forward to playing Washington and Chicago here at Emory later this season.”
The Eagles return to action on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 12 p.m. when they will play the Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) Tartans at Emory’s Woodruff Physical Education Center (WoodPEC).
— By Jacob Spitzer, Staff Writer
Squad Suffers Two-Game Weekend Setback
Junior forward Will Trawick dribbles past an opposing player. Trawick led the Eagles with 15 points in their loss to the Washington University in St. Louis Bears last Friday. | Photo courtesy of Emory Athletics
