From Emory University Athletics

Senior Alex Foster scored 26 of his game-high 34 points in the second half and the Emory men's basketball team used a strong performance over the final 20 minutes in registering a victory at Rochester on Saturday in the University Athletic Association opener for both squads. The Eagles captured their seventh straight contest and raised the overall record to 11-1 following an 84-69 decision over the Yellowjackets who slipped to 4-8.

Foster was successful on a career-high tying 15-of-28 field goal tries, including four-of-eight from beyond the arc, en route to posting his fifth straight and 10th contest of the campaign of 20 or more points.  Foster exploded over the final 20 minutes of the game, knocking down 11 field goals in 15 attempts, while converting four treys in five opportunities. It was Foster's second straight outing of 35 points and third game of the year of 30-plus points.  Foster also paced all players with 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the campaign.

Senior Josh Schattie rounded out Emory's double-figure scorers with a career-high tying 14 points, his fifth double-digit performance of the season, while contributing five rebounds, four coming on the offensive end of the floor. Senior Michael Florin chipped in nine points and dished out eight assists, which allowed him to move into the No. 2 spot on the program's all-time list with 424 assists, passing Paul Schuliger's standard of 421.

Emory started out the second half on a 13-4 sprint, with Foster and junior Davis Rao each scoring five points in that stretch, in building a 51-41 lead. After the Yellowjackets drew to within nine points, back-to-back buckets by Foster capped a 6-0 Emory spurt that extended its cushion to 60-45 with 13:58 left in the contest.  The Eagles kept a double-figure lead over the next seven minutes and enjoyed a 72-58 edge with 6:30 on the clock following a basket by Foster. Rochester did make a run at the Eagles, scoring nine of the game's next 11 points that sliced its deficit to seven points with 3:51 remaining. However, Emory stymied the Yellowjackets' comeback, closing out the final 3:14 on a 10-2 run that saw Foster score the first five points.

For the game, Emory sank 46.6 percent (34-of-73) from the floor while Rochester recorded a mark of 44.6 percent (29-of-65). The Eagles were successful on 51.2 percent (18-of-35) of their field goals in the second half including 5-of-11 from beyond the arc. Emory held a 43-33 bulge in the rebounding department, 16-9 on the offensive end. 

With Foster and Schattie scoring eight points apiece, the Eagles took a 38-37 lead into halftime.  After a bucket by Florin gave the Eagles a 12-9 lead, the Yellowjackets responded with a 10-0 run, highlighted by three pointers by Tyler Seidman and Sam Borst-Smith, to claim a 19-12 advantage with 13:47 left in the stanza. Rochester maintained its seven-point cushion at 31-24 with 7:25 on the clock, before Emory clamped down on the hosts, holding UR scoreless for over a five-minute stretch, while scoring 11 unanswered points, to take a four-point lead with just under three minutes left on the clock. The Yellowjackets countered with a 6-0 spurt to reclaim the lead, but the Eagles used a triple from freshman Whit Rapp with 26 ticks left that closed out the scoring for the half.  While Rochester outshot Emory from the floor over the initial 20 minutes of play, hitting on 50 percent (16-of-32) to the Eagles' 42.1 percent (16-of-38), Emory countered with a 21-16 edge on the glass, 9-4 on the offensive end. 

Emory's 11-1 mark ties the 1989-90 squad for the second-best 12-game start in school history.  The 2011-12 team began that season with 12 straight victories.