The Emory men’s basketball team ended the regular season with an important win, beating the University of Rochester (N.Y.) 84-75 to win the University Athletic Association Championship on Saturday night. This will mark the fourth straight year that Emory has qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The Eagles improved to 18-7 overall and 11-3 in the UAA with the win. The University of Rochester dropped to 17-8 on the year and 10-4 in conference play.
Senior swingman Davis Rao finished the game with the second highest scoring mark of his career: 25 points. Rao also added seven rebounds while shooting 70 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point and 90 percent from the free throw line. Sophomore forward Adam Gigax added to the barrage of scoring, putting up 20 points on 5-8 (62 percent) from the field and 2-3 (66.6 percent) from three-point, while making all eight of his free throws. Coming off the bench, junior guard Jonathan Terry, effectively the team’s sixth starter, put up 14 points and three rebounds while going 5-11 from the field. Senior forward Will Trawick rounded out the double-digit scoring with 13 points, while also corralling seven rebounds.
Emory outshot Rochester fairly handedly overall (50 percent vs. 37 percent overall). However, the biggest difference maker was how each team shot from behind the arc. Rochester shot an anemic 24 percent, while Emory shot a Steph Curry-like 44 percent as a team.
With the team looking to gain momentum in anticipation for the first round of the Division III tournament, this win against a top team proved to be important for the team’s morale.
The Eagles will play their next game against Covenant College (Ga.) on Friday, March 4 in the NCAA D-III Tournament’s first round.
