From Emory University Athletics
Juniors Adam Gigax and Christopher Avant combined for 45 points in leading the Emory men's basketball team to a Monday evening home win over Oglethorpe University. The Eagles recorded their seventh straight win and boosted their overall record to 9-2 following a 93-68 victory over the Stormy Petrels who slipped to 4-8.
Gigax drained 11-of-17 field goal attempts, including five treys in 10 opportunities, in notching his sixth scoring performance of 20 or more points this season. His output this evening represented his second-highest career total. Avant converted eight-of-16 from the floor and a pair of free throws in chalking up his eighth double-figure scoring outing. In addition, he topped all players with a career-high 14 rebounds, his fourth double-digit total of the year, and third double-double. Senior Jim Gordon rounded out Emory's double-digit scorers with 14 points. Junior Whit Rapp dropped 13 assists on the Stormy Petrels, tying his career high and the program's second-highest individual game total. Rapp has five games of 10 or more assists this season.
Holding an eight-point lead early in the second half, Emory blitzed Oglethorpe with a 10-0 run, with Gordon scoring five points in that stretch, to claim a 58-40 bulge with 15:40 left in the games. From there, the closest the Stormy Petrels would get would be 14 points, the final time with 10:48 left on the clock. Later in the stanza, a 12-4 Emory spurt, which saw Avant score four points and Gigax knock down a triple, stretched the Eagles to an 87-62 advantage with 4:32 remaining. Emory outpointed the crosstown foes, 45-32, over the final 20 minutes of action, thanks to a keen 57.6 percent (19 of 33) from the field.
With Gigax pumping in 20 points one eight-of-12 field goal shooting (four treys), Emory enjoyed a 48-36 lead at halftime. After Oglethorpe cut an 11-point deficit to four, the Eagles closed out the stanza on a 14-6 run, with Gordon and freshman Nick Tupanjanin sinking triples, and Gigax also hitting a trey as part of his five points, to give the hosts a 48-36 lead at the break.