Emory Men's Basketball Faces Road Test At Huntingdon

 GAME FACTS -  The Emory University men's basketball team prepares itself for the second of four straight road games on Tuesday (Nov. 24) when it plays at Huntingdon College.  Roland Arena on the Huntingdon campus will serve as the site of the seventh meeting between the Eagles and Hawks and tip is slated for 7:00 p.m. (CST).

Emory fans will be able to keep up-to-date tabs on the game through LiveStats.  The link for LiveStats will be:    http://fs.huntingdon.edu/livestats/xlive.htm

Following the Huntingdon contest, Emory will compete in the GABCA Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, Nov. 28-29, at LaGrange College.  The Eagles will meet Maryville College on Saturday in a 2:00 p.m. start before tangling with the Panthers of LaGrange on Sunday starting at 4:00 p.m.

 THE COACHES - Leading the Emory program is third-year Head Coach Jason Zimmerman (Davidson, '94)  Named head coach in April of 2007, Zimmerman came to Emory after serving as an assistant coach at the University of Evansville (2003-04 through 2006-07).  Prior to his stint with the Aces, Zimmerman was an assistant at Davidson College for seven years (1996-97 through 2002-03).

Mike Pugh (Alabama State) is in his second year as the head coach of the Huntingdon program. Prior to his appointment at Huntingdon, Pugh served as the head coach at Opelika (AL) High School for seven years.

2009-10 RECORDS - Emory stands 1-0 after posting an 85-81 overtime win at Oglethorpe University last Thursday, the second straight year that its season opener against the Stormy Petrels went into an extra session.   The win snapped a four-game losing streak in season openers for the Eagles with their last season-opening win coming back on Nov. 19, 2004, vs. LaGrange.

Huntingdon will entertain Emory with a 1-2 ledger.  In their most recent performance, the Hawks dropped a 77-66 home decision to Division II member West Alabama on Nov. 20.

 

Emory's Top Offensive Scoring Efforts Under Zimmerman  

SERIES RECORDS -  In a series that began in 1997, Emory holds a 6-0 edge over Huntingdon.  The teams met last year at the Woodruff PE Center on the Emory campus and the Eagles registered a 77-70 victory.  Daniel Curtin led the club's scoring attack in that game with a career-high 29 points.   Emory holds a 3-0 margin in games played on Huntingdon's home floor.

CLAUNCH TIES SCHOOL RECORD - Sophomore guard Austin Claunch paced the Eagles' scoring effort with a career-high 19 points and also managed to tie the school's single-game record with 11 assists.  Claunch joins Paul Damm (Case Western, Dec. 3, 1988) and Anthony Mazzei (Rust, Dec. 5, 1999) as the game leaders in that category.

Claunch logged a total of 43 minutes of action and sank seven-of-10, including two-of-four from three-point range, en route to his third career game of double-figure scoring at Emory.

LATE-GAME HEROICS NOTHING NEW TO GULOTTA - Trailing by a 72-69 margin in the waning moments of the Oglethorpe game, sophomore Alex Gulotta nailed a three-pointer with 18 ticks on the clock to tie things up and eventually force overtime.  Gulotta ended the contest with 10 points, his sixth effort of double-figure scoring as an Emory player.  In last year's game at New York University, Gulotta drained a trey with 30 seconds left in the first overtime that that tied the contest and forced a second OT where the Eagles prevailed by an 80-79 margin.

NOTES - The win at Oglethorpe raised Emory's overtime record to 3-2 during Jason Zimmerman's tenure as head coach ... Sophomore Julien Williams played a key role in the season-opening win with 14 points and a game-high 12 boards, his second career double-double and fourth performance of double-digit rebounding ... Sophomore Corey Spraggins picked up a career-best 13 points in the Oglethorpe game ... Senior Daniel Curtin picked up a pair of buckets from beyond the arc in the season opener, boosting his career total to 85, good for 12^th place on the school's all-time list.