From Emory University Athletics

Senior Jim Gordon led four double-figure scorers with 17, points and Adam Gigax added 15 in leading the Emory men's basketball team to a 71-62 Sunday afternoon win over Maryville College at the Oglethorpe University Thanksgiving Classic.  The Eagles raised their record to 3-2 following the 71-62 decision over the Scots who slipped to 4-1.

Emory shot 43.4 percent (23 of 53) from the floor while holding the Scots to 26.2 percent (17 of 65).  The Eagles held a slight edge in three-point shooting, connecting on 31.6 percent (6 of 19) compared to MC's 28.1 percent (9 of 32).  Both teams shot well from the stripe, with Emory checking in at 73.1 percent (19 of 26) and the Scots 76 percent (19 of 25).  The battle on the boards ended even with each squad grabbing 41 caroms.

A 9-2 run, which saw Gordon score four points, to open the second half stretched a five-point Emory advantage to a 44-32 lead with 16:28 remaining.  After a Maryville bucket, the Eagles used baskets by senior Jonathan Terry and Gordon, in claiming a 48-34 bulge.  The Scots battled back into contention with a 13-3 blitz, with Gigax accounting for the lone Emory points with a triple, which sliced the Eagles' margin to four points with 8:40 on the clock.  A Gigax trey ignited a 7-1 Emory spurt that pushed it to 59-49 lead with 6:26 on the clock, but back-to-back three pointers in a 36-second span by Maryville's Calvin Songster knocked down Emory's lead to four points with 5:12 remaining. Up by a three-point margin, Terry nailed a clutch trey that just beat the buzzer to double Emory's lead with 3:37 left. Following a MC basket, Gigax hit a pair from the stripe to keep Emory ahead by six points, 66-60. The Scots hit two of three free throws with 2:47 on the clock, but that would prove to be their final points on the afternoon as tallied the final five points of the game, beginning with a layup with 1:21 remaining by junior Whitt Rapp in the waning seconds of the shot clock.

Gordon sank seven-of-16 field goal attempts, including one trey, en route to his fifth double-figure scoring effort of the campaign. Gigax, who rang up 10 second-half points, sank five-of-13 from the floor, including three treys in eight tries.  Gigax has also posted double-digit scoring in all five Emory games.  Junior Donald Avant scored 12 points, converting four field goals in seven opportunities, with Christopher Avant adding 10 points and a game-high 10 boards, his second double-double of the year.  Rapp doled out a game-high 11 assists, his second straight and seventh career performance of double figures in that category.

Emory got out of the blocks quickly, hitting seven of first 12 shots in taking an 18-11 lead.  With the trio of Gordon (9 pts), Donald Avant (8) and Chris Avant (6) combining for 23 points, the Eagles held a seven-point cushion, 24-17, with 6:54 on the clock following a bucket by Gordon.  The Scots responded with a 12-2 charge, keyed by four points each by Jaylen Bower and Dante Hoppa, to claim a 29-26 lead with 3:52 on the clock. Trailing by a 30-28 count, Emory closed out the final 1:56 of the frame by scoring seven unanswered points, highlighted by a buzzer-beating triple by Gigax, to take a 35-30 margin into the break.  Gordon led all players with 11 first-half points, sinking four-of-eight from the floor, including one three pointer, while Donald Avant chipped in eight points.  Emory converted 42.9 percent (12 of 28) of its field goal tries while MC connected on 27.6 percent (8 of 29).