Atlanta, Ga., February 5, 2012 – Five Bears scored in doubles figures as the No. 25 ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team posted a 92-83 victory at No. 17 Emory University on Sunday afternoon in UAA play in Atlanta. The loss for Emory snapped its 17-game home winning streak.
Washington University remains in a tie for first place in the UAA standings (7-2 record) with New York, who posted a 98-85 win at Case Western Reserve University on Sunday. Brandeis University improved to 6-3 in league play following a 77-76 overtime win at Carnegie Mellon University, and sits one game back.
Emory led 11-4 in the opening four minutes of the game, but a four-point play by freshman Brayden Teuscher got the lead down to 17-14 with 13:00 to play. The Bears connected on 10 of their first 15 shots of the game, but had nine turnovers.
Sophomore Alan Aboona's three with 7:52 to play knotted the game at 30-30, and then he nailed four-straight foul shots to get the lead to one (34-33). Aboona's four free-throws ignited a 9-0 run by the Bears as they took a 39-33 lead. Washington U. scored the final six points of the half to take a 49-39 lead at intermission.
Washington U. hit 20-of-29 (69 percent) from the field in the opening half, and outrebounded Emory 22-10. The Bears were also called for 15 fouls, which forced head coach Mark Edwards to play 13 guys in the first half. The bench responded by outscoring Emory 23-6 in the opening 20 minutes. Senior Alex Toth led all scorers with 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting.
The Bears stretched the lead to 13 (54-31) following a three-pointer from Aboona, but Emory continued to hang around. Jake Davis' lay-up got the lead into single digits (50-42), but Teuscher nailed a three on the next possession. Three free-throws by Aboona made it 66-55, but a three-pointer by Michael Florin and a bucket by Alex Greven got the lead to six before a timeout.
Emory would get the lead down to three, but a three-pointer from senior Dylan Richter made it 69-63. The Bears built and eight-point advantage with 4:09 to play, but Emory would claw its way back. A four-point play by Greven trimmed the lead to two (79-77), but a lay-up by Richter on an out-of-bounds play and then a three-point play by Teuscher gave Washington U. the seven-point cushion with a minute to play.
Aboona tied his career-high with 16 points on 10-of-11 free-throw shooting, while Toth (15 points), Teuscher (14 points), Palucki (13 points) and Klimek (11 points) also scored in double figures. The Bears shot 57.9 percent (33-57) from the field in the win and hit 21-of-29 from the foul line. Washington U outrebounded Emory 42-28 and had a 40-9 advantage in bench points.
Davis (21 points), Austin Claunch (18 points, 10 assists), Greven (17 points), Alex Gulotta (13 points) all scored in double figures for Emory, which dropped to 16-4, 5-4 in the UAA. Emory shot 36.4 percent (24-66) from the field in the loss, including 9-of-35 from three-point range.
Washington University (15-5, 7-2 UAA) plays its final two home games of the season next weekend against Case Western Reserve on Friday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m., and Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday, Feb. 12, at Noon. Prior to Sunday's contest, Washington U. will honor its three senior members: Dylan Richter, Jake Seymour and Alex Toth.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with Emory 40-10 … The two teams were called for a combined 57 fouls … The Bears have outrebounded 16 of their 20 opponents this season … Washington U. is 4-2 against ranked teams … The Bears scored 191 points in the two games against Emory, their two highest point totals of the season.