Emory Men's Basketball Second Half Rally Comes Up Short At Chicago
Box
The Emory men's basketball team unleashed a barrage of three-point
field goals in the second half at the University of Chicago on
Friday evening as it attempted to rally from a 21-point halftime
deficit, but the Eagles' comeback bid came up short as the Maroons
escaped with a win. Emory saw its overall record slip to
13-6, 5-3 in the University Athletic Association following a 73-68
setback to Chicago who upped its overall mark to 10-9, 4-4 in the
league.
After hitting just three-of-14 from beyond arc in the first half,
Emory sank nine-of-15 (60 percent) from distance over the final 20
minutes of play. Sophomore Alex Gulotta keyed the onslaught
hitting four treys en route to scoring all 13 of his team-high
tying points in the second stanza. Senior Anthony Fernandez
picked up 13 points while junior Julien Williams contributed 12
points, his second-highest total of the season. Rounding out
the squad's double-digit scorers were sophomore Austin Claunch and
senior Chad Hixon with 10 points apiece.
For the game, Emory shot 32.9 percent from the floor (20-of-51)
while the host Maroons finished at 46.8 percent (22-of-47).
The Eagles connected on 41.4 percent from three-point range
(12-of-29), their third straight outing of 10 or more makes from
distance, while UC converted just three-of-14 (21.4 percent).
Chicago did hold a big edge at the charity stripe, knocking down
26-of-37 while Emory countered with 16 makes in 26 trips to the
line.
Facing a 41-20 gap at the start of the second half, the Eagles
scored the first eight points of the stanza with three-pointers by
Williams and Gulotta the big shots. Chicago then countered
with an 8-3 run to push its advantage back to 18 points, 49-31,
with 15:20 left in the game. Undaunted, Emory responded with
a 16-3 run that saw it hit four treys over a seven-minute stretch
to draw to within five points, 52-47, with a little more than eight
minutes remaining. The Eagles stayed on the heels of the
Maroons and a three-pointer by Gulotta with 4:38 on the clock
further cut into the home team's lead, 59-58. The Eagles
would trail by one point on four more occasions, the final time
with 21 ticks left when a basket by Williams made the score 69-68
in UC's favor. After a free throw by the Maroons' Steve Stefanou,
the Eagles' bid to tie the game missed and Chicago hit free throws
to close out the game's scoring.
A three-pointer by Emory freshman Alex Greven knotted the score at
13-13 with 11:42 left in the first half. The Maroons then
scored the game's next six points to take a 19-13 edge at the
midway point of the stanza. Emory trailed by a 21-17 count
with 8:24 left before the Maroons closed out the half on a 20-4
burst that enabled it to claim the 41-20 lead heading into
halftime. Stefanou scored seven of his 12 first-half points in that
spurt while Jake Pancratz added six. Chicago wound up the
half shooting 57.1 percent from the floor (16-of-28) while the
Eagles hit on 23.1 percent (six-of-26). Claunch led the
Eagles with six points in the opening half.
Emory returns to action on Sunday when it plays at No. 3-ranked
Washington University.
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