From Emory University Athletics
Senior McPherson Moore led five Emory double-figure
scorers with 16 points in leading the Eagles to a second-round win
in the NCAA D-III Tournament Saturday evening over Centre
College. The Eagles advanced to the Round of 16 for the
second time in school history and upped their overall record to
18-8 following a 72-62 decision over the Colonels who closed out
their year with a slate of 24-5.
Moore, who paced the squad's scoring attack for the fifth straight
game, ended the evening hitting five-of-10 from the floor,
including a pair of three pointers in three attempts, along with
all four free throws in, registering his
23rd straight and 24th double-digit
outing of the season. Moore also grabbed a team-high seven
boards. Moore had plenty of assistance in the scoring
department with sophomore Will Trawick and
junior Josh Schattie, who made his first start since the
Oglethorpe game (Dec. 9), each contributing 13 points.
Juniors Michael Florin and Alex Foster rounded
out the team's double-figure scorers with 11 and 10 points,
respectively.
Emory finished the night hitting 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the
floor compared to Centre's 33.3 percent effort (19-of-57).
The Colonels converted eight-of-24 from three-point range
while Emory with a six-of-17 performance. Both teams were
sharp from the charity stripe with the Eagles draining 80 percent
(20-of-25) from the stripe, their sixth straight outing of 80
percent or better, while Centre hit 76.2 percent (16-of-21).
Playing without leading scorer Jake Davis, Emory trailed by a
19-13 margin with 10:45 left in the first half following a three
pointer by Centre's Josh Karsner. Emory rallied and closed
out the stanza on a 20-8 run that featured scoring by seven
different Eagles with Moore leading the way with six points in that
stretch.
The Eagles scored seven of the first nine points in the second
half, capped by a jumper by Trawick, to take 40-29 advantage.
Centre battled back to within three points following an 8-0 spurt
to slice its deficit to three points with 12:25 on the
clock. Trawick knocked down another jumper that
extended Emory's lead to 46-39, but a triple by the Colonels' Ryan
Murray drew the visitors back to within three points, 48-45, with
8:19 remaining. Emory answered with a clutch three pointer by
seniorStephen Simmons to go up by six points before Karsner's
trey with 7:24 left cut Emory's lead back to three points,
53-50. Karsner would lead the Center scoring effort with 16
points. A three-pointer by Moore and a three-point play by
Schattie keyed a 10-4 Emory run that pushed its lead to 63-54 with
4:35 remaining. From that point, the closest Centre would get
would be seven points as the Eagles fended off the Colonels by
hitting 10-of-11 from the foul line over the final 2:24 of the
game.