From Emory University Athletics
Sophomore Adam Gigax led four double-figure scorers with 20 points and the Emory men's basketball team maintained a tie for first place in the University Athletic Association following a Friday evening win at Carnegie Mellon. The Eagles raised their overall record to 17-6, 10-2 in the UAA with an 83-68 triumph over the Tartans who fell to 9-14 overall, 2-10 in the conference.
Gigax ended the evening sinking seven-of-13 field goal attempts, including four three pointers in seven opportunities en route to chalking up his 18th double-figure scoring performance of the season and fourth of 20 or more points. Senior Davis Rao contributed 15 points to the cause while senior Will Trawick and junior Jonathan Terry each tallied 11 points.
Behind Gigax's 15 points and a blazing long-range shooting attack, Emory raced to a 53-27 halftime lead. During the opening 20 minutes of play, the Eagles sank 50 percent (18 of 36) from the floor, including 64.7 percent (11 of 17) from beyond the arc. Gigax recorded six field goals in eight attempts and was successful on all three of his triple tries. Davis Rao chipped in nine points while Terry and sophomore Whit Rapp each totaled eight points. Holding a 20-16 lead, Terry scored the first eight points of a 16-4 blitz that extended Emory's advantage to 36-20 with 6:32 left. After a triple by the Tartans cut Emory's lead to 13 points, the Eagles rattled off a 15-0 scoring spree, with Gigax scoring eight points in that stretch, to balloon its advantage to 53-25. A bucket by CMU with six seconds left ended a five-minute scoring drought and making the score 53-27 in Emory's favor at the break.
The opening 10 minutes of the second was a totally different story as the Eagles misfired on their first 18 attempts from the floor while seeing the hosts use an 18-0 run as part of an overall 24-3 charge to draw to within five points at 56-51 with 10:39 remaining. However, Emory regained control of the contest, scoring 15 of the game's next 17 points, eight coming from Trawick, to post a 71-53 cushikon with 6:12 on the clock.
CMU finished with the advantage in field goal shooting, hitting 46.8 percent (22 of 47) compared to Emory's 38.5 percent (25 of 65). The Eagles knocked down 15 three pointers in 36 attempts, their second-highest total of the season and tying the fourth-highest game total in program history, while the Tartans sank nine treys in 18 tries. Emory's final three-point field goal total was the fourth time in the past five games and the 10th time this season it finished in double figures in that category. Emory grabbed 38 rebounds to CMU's 33 and was led by Rapp's eight boards. Emory turned the ball over on nine occasions to the Tartans' 18 miscues and enjoyed a big 35-12 edge in the points-off-turnovers category.