From Emory University Athletics
Junior Adam Gigax led five double-figure scorers with 20 points, and the Emory men's basketball team rolled to a Tuesday evening win over Rust College. The Eagles notched their fourth straight win and boosted their overall record to 6-2 following a 93-72 decision over the Bearcats who fell to 1-9. It was Emory's home opener of the 2016-17 campaign.
Gigax connected on nine-of-18 field goal opportunities, including a pair of triples, in registering his seventh double-figure scoring performance of the season and fourth of 20 or more points. Senior Jim Gordon was next up on the team's scoresheet, knocking down six-of-12 from the floor, including four treys in six opportunities en route to a 17-point evening. Junior Donald Avant came through with his first double-double of his career, registering 12 points while pacing all players with a personal-best 12 rebounds. Sophomore Gebereal Baitey and senior Austin DaGue rounded out the double-digit point producers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
With Gordon and Gigax scoring 17 and 16 points, the Eagles took a 49-34 lead into halftime. Emory connected on 21-of-46 field goal tries (45.7%) compared to the Bearcats' 13-of-27 effort (48.1 percent), and was successful on six three pointers in 17 attempts. After a triple by Gordon gave Emory a 27-14 advantage with 10:17 remaining, Rust answered with a 9-0 blitz on the strength of three treys by Dewan Fowler to cut the Emory lead to 27-23. Gigax (4 pts.) and Gordon (3 pts.) proceeded to account for a 7-0 Emory spurt that extended its cushion to 34-23. Rust drew to within seven points with 4:44 remaining, but the Eagles closed out the final 3:55 on a 13-6 tear, which featured DaGue scoring six points, to claim the 15-point margin.
The Eagles hammered Rust with a 10-0 outburst to open the second half, with six points coming from junior Christopher Avant, the final three on a triple, to bolt to a 59-34 advantage. Emory would eventually build leads of 36 points on four occasions over the final 20 minutes of play, the final time with 5:00 remaining following a bucket by sophomore Beau Bommarito.
Emory concluded the contest shooting 44.2 percent (38 of 86) vs. RC's 41 percent (25 of 61). The Eagles' 86 field goal attempts tied the program's seventh-highest game total, while their 38 makes tied the school's 13th-highest mark. Emory chalked up a healthy 52-35 edge in rebounding, 21-7 on the offensive end that helped it record a 22-6 bulge in second-chance points.
The win represented Emory's 13th consecutive home-opening win and raised the program's record to 26-5 in such contests.