From Emory University Athletics
Freshman Matt Davet led three Emory double-figure scorers with 16 points in helping the No. 7-ranked Emory men's basketball team to a 71-61 win at the University of Rochester in the regular season finale for both teams. The Eagles won for the fifth straight time and raised their overall record to 21-4, 12-2 in the University Athletic Association, following a 71-61 decision over the Yellowjackets who slipped to 16-9 overall, 7-7 in the league.
Emory had to fight off a determined second-half rally Rochester in raising its away/neutral record to 9-3, as the Yellowjackets clawed back from a 14-point halftime deficit to knot the score at 59-59 with 4:08 left in the game. A key three-pointer by senior Chris Avant with 3:50 on the clock gave the Eagles the lead, 62-61, but a bucket by UR's Ryan Clammage, who led all players with 23 points, cut the lead to one point with 3:29 remaining. However, the Eagles closed out the contest by scoring the game's final nine points, starting with a three-pointer by senior Adam Gigax, as the Yellowjackets misfired on their last five field goal attempts of the afternoon.
Davet ended the game converting six-of-nine from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers in registering his 11th double-figure scoring performance of the season. The senior tandem of Whit Rapp and Christopher Avant each scored a dozen points, with Rapp dishing out five assists and Avant tying Gigax for team honors with seven boards.
A layup by Avant gave Emory a 44-32 lead with 16:00 left in the game, but UR rattled off a 12-1 blitz to draw to within one point. After trading baskets, Davet came through with back-to-back buckets, giving Emory a 51-46 lead with 10:55 left. Davet later knocked down a triple with 6:55 on the clock that pushed Emory to a 59-53 advantage with just under seven minutes left. Clammage then scored the game's next six points that knotted things up at 59-59.
Emory shot 43.1 percent (25 of 58) from the floor, including 30.8 percent (8-26) from distance while Rochester checked in at 41.1 percent (23 of 56) from the field, but just 25 percent (5 of 20) from beyond the arc. Both teams finished with 39 rebounds.
Using a balanced scoring attack that saw five players score five or more points, while shooting 50 percent (16 of 32) from the floor, Emory took a 38-24 lead into halftime. Rapp and Davet each totaled seven points during the opening 20 minutes of action, with both players sink three-of-four from the field, including one triple. Holding a 10-8 lead, the Eagles went on a 7-2 spurt, with junior Beau Bommarito scoring five points in the stretch to push ahead by a 17-10 count. After the Yellowjackets got to within four, six straight Emory points, the final two on a layup by Rapp, boosted its lead to 25-15 with 9:06 left in the stanza. A three-pointer by Romin Williams extended the Eagles' edge to 13 points, with 1:55 on the clock, before a trey by UR's Jacob Wittig cut the home team's deficit to 10 points. Emory scored the last four points over the last 1:28 of the half, the first two on a Davet layup, followed by a put-back at the buzzer by Christopher Avant.
Emory's 12 wins in UAA represents the school's second-highest win total in conference action, trailing only the 1989-90 team's mark of 13 victories.
Emory will wait to see what the postseason holds for it when the bids to NCAA D-III Tournament are announced on Monday (Feb. 26) at 12:30 pm on ncaa.com