From Emory University Athletics
Senior Jake Davis scored a team-high 26 points,
including a clutch three pointer with five seconds left in overtime
that snapped a tie game, in leading the Emory men's basketball team
to a stunning victory at No. 1-ranked UW-Stevens Point Friday
evening in a Round of 16 game in the NCAA D-III
Tournament. The Eagles kept their season alive and
raised their overall record to 19-8 with a 76-73 decision over the
Pointers who closed out their season at 28-2.
After a bucket by the Pointers' Tyler Tillema with 29 seconds left
in the extra period knotted the score at 73-73, Davis took a feed
from junior Michael Florin and calmly knocked down the
winning bucket. A last-ditch three-point attempt by UWSP
missed the mark, sending Emory to the program's first-ever Round of
Eight appearance.
Davis's clinching shot wasn't his only big bucket of the
game. Emory trailed by a 64-61 count with 47 seconds left in
regulation after the Pointers' Trevor Haas drilled a triple.
Following a timeout, Davis hit a trey that tied the score at 64-64
with 21 ticks on the clock. UWSP had a chance to win the game
but Haas saw a three-point attempt go in and out of the basket,
forcing the extra session. Davis wound up the night sinking
10-of-18 from the field, three-of-seven from beyond the arc, and
all three of his free throw opportunities in posting his
16th outing of 20 or more points this year. In
addition, Davis moved closer to the school's all-time scoring
record with his performance this evening upping his career total to
1,856 points, just 19 from tying Tim Garrett's (1986-90) standard
of 1,875.
Emory had to battle back in the second half to force the overtime
after a 12-4 UWSP spurt put it ahead by a 55-47 margin with 8:16
remaining. The Eagles still faced an eight-point obstacle
with 6:32 on the clock, but quickly erased the Pointers' cushion
with an 8-0 charge, started with a three pointer by
sophomore Davis Rao and followed by a trey by
junior Alex Foster, followed by a pair of makes by Foster at
the stripe. UWSP used a pair of free throws by Clayton Heuer
to take a two-point lead, but a bucket by Foster tied things up at
61-61 that set the stage for the dramatic end to
regulation.
In addition to the 26 points from Davis, Foster came up big with
20 points, his eighth straight and
14th double-figure scoring effort of the
season. Foster connected on eight-of-14 from the floor,
including a pair of triples in notching his third contest of 20 or
more points. Junior Josh Schattie rounded out the
team's double-figure scorers with 12 points while grabbing seven
rebounds.
The first half was intense from the outset with the teams battling
to a 28-28 draw heading into halftime. Schattie paced the
Emory offense effort, hitting all four of his field goal attempts
en route to a 10-point stanza. Davis, hampered by a pair of
early fouls, logged 10 minutes of action and finished with six
points. Holding an 18-17 lead, the Eagles went on an 8-2
spurt, with Schattie scoring four points in that stretch, to take a
26-19 lead with 4:10 on the clock. However, UWSP countered
with nine unanswered points, six coming from senior Tyler Tillema,
to take a 28-26 advantage. A pair of charity tosses by
Schattie with 1:38 remaining would close out the scoring for the
half. Tillema would lead all players with 16 first-half
points, sinking six-of-nine field goal attempts and four free
throws in five tries. Both teams shot 47.8 percent (11-of-23)
from the field while the Pointers held a 15-8 edge on the
glass.
Tillema topped all players in scoring with 33 points, converting
13-of-22 from the field.
Emory ended the contest successful on 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from
the floor while the host Pointers checked in at 49.1 percent
(28-of-57). After misfiring on all five attempts from
three-point range in the opening half, Emory ended up sinking
seven-of-20 from beyond the arc (35.0 percent). As has been
the case most of the season, the Eagles were outstanding from the
foul line, hitting 93.8 percent (15-of-16) of their attempts, the
second-highest mark of the year.