From Emory University Athletics
Junior Davis Rao led five double-figure scorers with a
career-high 27 points in sparking the Emory men's basketball team
to a Friday evening home victory over Washington University. The
No. 20-ranked Eagles raised their overall record to 16-5, 6-4 in
the University Athletic Association, following a 93-87 triumph over
the No. 14 Bears who fell to16-5 overall, 5-5 in the league.
Rao ended the evening converting eight-of-11 from the floor,
including four-of-five from three-point range, and knocked down all
seven of his free throw opportunities, in posting his seventh
double-figure scoring performance of the season. Alex
Foster scored all 18 of his points in the second of half play
while sophomore Jonathan Terry chipped in 16 points,
draining six field goals in seven opportunities including a
personal-best four treys. Senior Michael Florin and
junior Will Trawick recorded 11 and 10 points,
respectively.
Emory closed out the final 2:52 of the first half on a 13-3 run,
with Terry sinking a pair of triples and Rao adding five points,
that turned a five-point deficit into a 45-40 lead heading into
halftime. Rao registered 18 points during the opening
20 minutes of action, knocking down seven-of-nine from the field
including all four of his three-point tries. Both teams
shot the ball well during the first half with Wash U successful on
48.6 percent (17-of-35) from the field while Emory hit 47.2 percent
(17-of-36), including a keen 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from beyond the
arc.
The Eagles kept the pressure on during the early stages of the
second half as Foster scored six points during a 15-6 run that gave
them the first of three 14-point advantages of the stanza, 60-46,
with 15:10 remaining. Emory still maintained a 13-point
cushion following a Terry three pointer with 11:25 on the clock,
but nine unanswered points by the Bears sliced Emory's lead to
72-68 with 9:20 left. Holding a 74-70 lead, WU was
whistled for an intentional foul that resulted in a pair of charity
tosses by Rao, followed by a bucket by Trawick, that pushed
Emory's lead to eight points. After a pair of free throws by
WU's Matt Palucki, drew the Bears to within six points, Foster came
through with a three-point play, followed by a triple, that enabled
Emory to take a 10-point margin, 84-74, with 4:19
remaining.
However, WU's David Fatoki canned a pair of three pointers as part
of a 6-1 burst that moved the visitors to within five points with
3:05 on the clock. After a pair of free throws by Foster, the
Bears countered with three makes at the line in four attempts to
cut Emory's lead to 87-83. Emory held on for the win by
hitting all six of its free throw attempts, Rao going four-for-four
in that stretch, over the final 1:31.
Wash enjoyed a slight edge in the game in field goal shooting, 51.5 percent (35-of-68) to the Eagles' 49.2 percent (31-of-63), but Emory negated that by draining 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) from distance along with 20-of-24 from the line. Luke Silverman-Lloyd led Wash U in scoring with 20 points while Matt Palucki topped all players with 11 rebounds.