From Emory University Athletics
Senior Adam Gigax paced five double-figure scorers with a season-high 26 points in leading the Emory men's basketball team to a Friday evening win at home over Carnegie Mellon. The 20th-ranked Eagles won their seventh straight game and raised their overall record to 11-2 (2-0 UAA) following an 82-77 triumph over the Tartans who fell to 4-9 overall, 0-2 in the UAA.
Gigax ended the game shooting nine-of-19 from the floor, including a career-high tying six three-point field goals in 14 attempts, in registering his 12thdouble-figure scoring effort in as many outings this year. Senior Christopher Avant was next up on the Emory scoresheet with 15 points, while pulling down a game-high nine rebounds, the fourth straight and 10th game this year he has paced the team in that department. Junior Gebereal Baitey came through with a perfect shooting night, converting all five of his field goal opportunities, including a pair of treys, along with two free throws in finishing with 14 points. Junior Beau Bommarito and freshman Matt Davet rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 and 11 points, respectively, with Bommarito scoring 10 in the second stanza.
The Eagles had to rally for the win after seeing CMU go on a 14-3 run early in the second half that boosted the visitors to a 49-41 advantage with 14:43 left. Down by a seven-point count, five points from Bommarito and a triple by Gigax accounted for eight straight Eagle points that put them up by a 52-51 margin. From the 11:39 mark till 6:45, both teams traded blows with eight lead changes in that stretch. A reverse layup by Baitey put Emory up, 65-62, with 5:23 on the clock, but an 8-2 Tartan spurt, capped by a three-pointer by Ryan Maha gave CMU a 70-67 edge with just under four minutes remaining. Maha would paced the Tartans' scoring effort with 15 points.
A Gigax three-pointer, followed by a pair of free throws from senior Whit Rapp, enabled Emory to stake itself to a 72-70 margin with 3:01 left. After CMU made one-of-two from the stripe, Gigax buried a huge triple that pushed the Eagles ahead, 75-71 with 1:09 on the clock. The Tartans drew to within one point with 27 ticks on the clock, but a pair of Bommarito free throws kept Emory ahead by three points. The teams then traded two free throws with Baitey's makes giving Emory an 80-77 lead with 10 seconds remaining. Bommarito then came through with an opportunistic steal on CMU's ensuing possession, where he was fouled and sank two free throws to close out the game's scoring.
CMU finished the contest shooting 51.7 percent (31-60) from the floor, including 43.5 percent (10-23) from beyond the arc. That Tartans were hot over the final 20 minutes, sinking 60 percent (18-30) of their field goal tries. Emory checked in at 44.6 percent (25-56) from the field and 32.1 percent (9-28) from distance. The Eagles were excellent at the foul line, converting 92 percent (23-25) of their opportunities. Emory also enjoyed a decisive 39-24 in rebounding.