The men’s basketball team picked up an easy nonconference win on Tuesday, beating the Covenant College (Ga.) Scots 75-50. The Eagles moved to 18-6 on the season, including a 9-4 mark in conference play.
Head Coach Jason Zimmerman was pleased with his team’s effort, if not their overall performance.
“Physically we were ready to go,” Zimmerman said. “We played very hard. Mentally, we weren’t quite ready.”
Emory got off to a fast start, as senior guard Alex Greven drained a three-pointer and junior forward Jake Davis added a layup before the Scots had a chance to get on the board. The Eagles raced out to a 10-2 lead less than four minutes into the game, eventually extending the advantage to 10 points on a jumper from senior forward Michael Friedberg.
A trio of free throws from Greven capped a 9-2 run that gave the Eagles a comfortable 30-16 cushion with five minutes left in the first half, but the Scots cut the margin to 11 at the break.
Davis and Greven led the first-half charge with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Davis also contributed four rebounds. The Eagles’ recent hot shooting continued as they put out a 51.9 percent mark (14 of 27) from the field.
They were colder from beyond the arc, however, as after Greven’s game-opening three-pointer the Eagles missed six straight threes.
Emory held the Scots to just 40 percent from the field in the opening stanza.
Covenant opened the second half with a 10-1 run that turned a comfortable Eagles lead into a slim 36-33 margin. Greven got to the line and answered with two foul shots, however, and Davis drained a three-pointer at the 12:42 mark. The Scots would get no closer the rest of the way.
Friedberg contributed a three-point play to make the score 53-37 and another just two minutes later to push the lead to 20 points. The cushion would not dip below 20 again, and the Eagles ran away with the game in dominating fashion.
Davis and Greven led the team with 20 and 19 points, respectively. Friedberg also landed in double digits with 12 points to go with four blocks and three steals.
The Eagles finished the game shooting 52.1 percent (25 of 48) from the field, while holding the Scots to 38 percent (19 of 50). It was the tenth game this season in which Emory held their opponents below 40 percent shooting.
The Eagles outrebounded Covenant 36-28.
Convenant was a nonconference foe, so the Eagles’ attention now turns to the final of their University Athletic Association (UAA) season. Emory currently sits in second place in the conference, one game behind the University of Rochester (N. Y.) Yellowjackets.
The Eagles will host the Yellowjackets on Saturday, Feb. 23 in a game that will decide the UAA championship.
“Anytime you start the year, you start it trying to win a championship,” Zimmerman said. “We’ve been building to a moment like this for years.”
Emory took on Rochester on the road earlier this season on Jan. 5 and suffered a tough 89-80 loss.
“Rochester is a very good team,” Zimmerman said. “They were number one in the nation at one point. We’ve got to continue doing what we do well […] and we’ve got to value the ball.”
Friedberg agreed, emphasizing how much the Eagles have improved since the teams’ first meeting.
“We need to be locked in and focused from the opening tip,” he said. “The team has grown and worked incredibly hard in practice and games to get better every day since Oct. 15. Like any other game, we are going to compete to the fullest.”
– By Ryan Smith
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