In a hard-fought continuation of their University Athletic Association (UAA) play, the Emory men’s basketball team split two games on the road last weekend.
The squad hit the ground running in Friday’s game against Brandeis University (Mass.), stretching their lead to 18 points with just over a minute on the clock in the first half.
The Eagles shot strongly from the outside, sinking four three-pointers in the first 20 minutes of play, including two from sophomore guard Jonathan Terry, foreshadowing a breakout weekend with 12 points.
Terry and the team continued to dominate the Brandeis Judges in the second half, maximizing their lead eight minutes in at 45-24. Senior guard Josh Schattie knocked down four boards, totaling six in the game. After a scoreless first half, he also added 10 points. Terry contributed six more, raising his game total to a career-high 18. The Judges made a late run, but were unable to overcome the Eagles’ thick score padding and the scoreboard read 65-51 at the final buzzer.
The Emory defense held the Judges to a shooting percentage under 40 for the ninth time this season, while the offense put up an impressive 52.9 percent. The Eagles also sunk an impressive 40 percent of their three-point shots. On the boards, the Eagles continued their rebounding streak to an undefeated 12 games on the season, as they grabbed 36.
“JT [Terry] came out just shooting the ball. I felt like it was a good team effort and we really got the shots they were giving us,” senior forward and captain Alex Foster said. “We played good defense, too, that game.”
On Sunday, the Eagles took on the New York University Violets in a gut-wrenching, fast-paced scoring show. The Violets started the game with consecutive layups, but the first half showed two evenly matched teams, and the lead changed hands six more times, ending with a 36-38 NYU lead.
Senior guard and captain Mike Florin led the scoring effort at halftime with 11. Foster and junior guard Davis Rao each knocked down four boards, but eight rebounds from NYU junior guard Evan Kupferberg left the Eagles on the short end of a 22-18 tally.
The Violets pulled ahead in the first 10 minutes of the second half, showing a 57-70 lead on the scoreboard. However, The Eagles persevered, especially Terry, who got hot again and scored a clutch 14 points in the final six and a half minutes of play.
With just over a minute and a half on the clock, a free throw from Terry brought the Eagles within one, but Terry’s 6’1” guard counterpart on the Violets, junior Hakeem Harris, answered with three free throw points.
A layup from Florin restored hope, raising the score to 92-93, but with 22 seconds on the clock, the Eagles were driven to fouling, and the Violets pulled ahead 92-96.
The Violets narrowly outshot the Eagles, putting up 51.7 percent to the Eagles’ 50 percent. From behind the arc, however, Emory made 37.9 percent to NYU’s 33.3. The first team to out-rebound the Eagles on the season, the Violets came out on top of a 41-34 board count.
Terry again broke his career-high with 23 points. Florin, Rao, Foster and Junior forward Will Trawick each notched double-digit scoring with 17, 16, 15 and 14, respectively. Florin posted an impressive 14 assists, while Foster, Rao and Terry led in rebounds with 8, 6 and 5, respectively.
“They’re really talented. We played all right,” Foster said. “We let them get going and get into the stuff they wanted, which hurt us.”
On the subject of Terry, who had the biggest weekend of his career thus far, Head Coach Jason Zimmerman said he has known of the player’s potential.
“I’m excited for him,” he said.
Terry attributed his breakout to the team’s coaches.
“I just took my coaches’ advice and got the opportunities, and they worked out for me,” he said.
In the middle of the UAA season, each team faces two teams both at home and away in consecutive weeks.
“It’s interesting to flip the same teams in the middle of the season,” Zimmerman said.
Next weekend, the Eagles will host Brandeis and NYU at the Woodruff Physical Education Center (WoodPEC).
“Home and home are always really competitive,” Foster said.
While the team will look to redeem themselves against NYU, they cannot allow themselves to be arrogant in the Brandeis rematch, Zimmerman said.
Squad Splits at Brandeis, NYU
Junior guard Davis Rao leaps for the basket. Rao and the Eagles defeated Brandeis University (Mass.), but fell to New York University last weekend. | Courtesy of Emory Athletics.
Senior guard Alex Foster shoots from behind the arc. Foster and the Eagles will play New York University and Brandeis University (Mass.) again this weekend at home. | Courtesy of Emory Athletics.
