From Emory University Athletics

Junior Whit Rapp scored a career-high 17 points in sparking the Emory men's basketball team to a hard-fought Wednesday evening win at Birmingham Southern. The Eagles won their second straight game and raised their overall record to 4-2 following a 75-70 win over the Panthers who slipped to 2-3.

Rapp sank all five of his field goal opportunities, including a career-best four three pointers, and made three free throws in four tries en route to his sixth double-figure total of his career. Rapp also ranked as the team leader with eight boards. Senior Jim Gordon was the team's No. 2 scorer with 15 points, his sixth double-figure performance of the season, ending the night five-of-nine from the field and four-of-four from the stripe. Junior twins Donald and Christopher Avant combined for 24 points, 22 over the final 20 minutes of action, with the former totaling 14 points on the strength of five-of-six field goal shooting, and the latter adding 10 points. 

Emory hit 48.1 percent (26 of 54) of its field goal attempts, 58.3 percent (14 of 24) in the second half, while BSC finished with a mark of 43.1 percent (22 of 51). The Panthers were successful on 10 three pointers in 30 opportunities while Emory hit eight in 28 opportunities.  Emory closed out the game with a 31-29 edge in rebounding. 

The score was deadlocked, 35-35, with 17:48 left in the game before the Eagles rattled off a 14-3 charge, which saw five different players score, allowing them to bolt to a 49-38 advantage with 13:47 on the clock. The Panthers managed to narrow their deficit to six points with 9:42 remaining following a triple by Evan Lewis, but a jumper by junior Adam Gigax, followed by a pair of free throws by Chris Avant and a bucket by Donald Avant, stretched Emory's cushion to 60-48 with 7:41 left. A jumper by Donald Avant with 5:33 remaining gave the Eagles a 67-56 margin, but five unanswered points by BSC drew it to within six with 5:01 left.  

After two makes at the line by Donald Avant, BSC countered with four of its own to creep to within four points. Gordon hit a huge jumper with 3:10 remaining, providing Emory with a 71-65 lead, but the Panthers stayed within striking distance, converting three-of-four free throws to slice the Eagles' edge to 71-68 with 35 ticks on the clock. Two free throws by Gordon pushed Emory ahead by five points, but a floater by BSC's Ian Thom, two of his 17 points on the evening, made it a one possession game. Emory turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, giving the home team a chance to tie. However, a three-point attempt missed its mark and was rebounded by Donald Avant, who then made two free throws with one second left to close out the game's scoring.

Birmingham Southern led for the majority of the first half and used a 6-0 spurt to build its biggest advantage at 27-19 with 4:38 remaining. However, the Eagles locked down the Panthers for the remainder of the half, not allowing the hosts a field goal while posting a 12-2 blitz to take a 31-29 edge at intermission. Senior Jonathan Terry scored all eight of his points in that stretch, knocking down a pair of three pointers, while Gordon tallied four of his team-leading nine points. Rapp also chipped in eight points, converting all three of his field goal attempts, including a pair of treys.  Emory shot 40 percent (12 of 30) from the floor in the opening half compared to BSC's 37 percent (10 of 27).