ALTANTA, GA – A hot shooting host Emory University squad stifled the University of Rochester men's basketball team in the University Athletic Association conference opener on Saturday, winning 80-62 at the Woodruff P.E. Center.
The Eagles (10-2, 1-0 UAA), shot a combined 48% from the floor, the second highest yielded by Rochester this season. Rochester (9-3, 0-1 UAA), meanwhile, struggled shooting the ball, making just 36% of its shots, a season low, while also committing 18 turnovers in the loss.
The Yellowjackets leading scorer was junior Ryan Clamage who scored 14 points and added six rebounds, while shooting 7-8 from the free throw line. Michael Mangan scored nine points while Jacob Wittig and Jacob Urban each had eight. Tucker Knox chipped in seven points, three rebounds and two blocks.
Emory had four players in double-figure scoring, led by Adam Gigax who scored a game-high 17 on 7-16 shooting, adding six rebounds. Romin Williams scored 15 points off the bench, including going 6-6 from the charity stripe. Chris Avant and Beau Bommarito scored 14 and 11 points respectively, with that duo combining to go 9-12 from the floor.
Rochester would jump out to a very early lead in the opening minutes, going up 7-2 after four points from Clamage and a long 3-pointer from Mangan. The teams then traded two baskets each way allowing the Yellowjackets to lead 12-6 six minutes into the contest.
The Eagles would then score the next 15 points to jump to a 21-12 lead and would never look back. Witt Rapp started the run with a 3-pointer, followed by a Bommarito layup. Matt Davet then scored five in a row, all from the free throw line, before Williams ended the run with five straight points, including a long bomb from 3-point range.
UR's Knox stopped the surge with a layup, but Williams answered right away with his seventh straight point for Emory to build a nine-point edge halfway through the opening 20 minutes.
After Alexander Gamble made 1-2 free throws to pull UR back within eight, the Eagles then scored the next seven points and did not allow the margin to reach under 10 points for the remainder of the game.
The Yellowjackets look to bounce back next weekend when UR hosts Case Western Reserve University on Friday night at the Palestra, before entertaining Carnegie Mellon on Sunday afternoon.