St. Louis, Mo., February 8, 2013 – The No. 20 ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team limited Emory University to a season-low point total in a 68-65 victory in University Athletic Association (UAA) play Friday in front of 1,606 fans at the WU Field House in St. Louis.
Junior Alan Aboona had 16 points and four assists to lead all scorers, while sophomoreNick Burt (12 points, four steals), seniorBen Hoener (10 points) and junior Chris Klimek (10 points, seven rebounds) also scored in double figures. Washington U. outrebounded Emory 45-33, but committed 23 turnovers in the victory. Senior Robert Burnett added six points and a career-high 15 rebounds for the Bears.
Emory, who entered the contest ranked first in the UAA and 19th in NCAA Division III averaging 82.7 points per game, shot 35.8 percent (24-67) from the field and committed 16 turnovers in the loss. Georgia Tech transfer McPherson Moore had 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Emory, while Michael Freidberg added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Washington U. struggled to take care of the ball early in the contest, and at one point turned the ball over eight-straight times as Emory held a 12-6 lead with 11:21 remaining in the first half. The Eagles took their largest lead of the half at 23-12 with 8:15 to play after a lay-up by Alex Greven. Emory scored 12 of its 23 points off Washington U. turnovers.
A lay-up by Burnett and a three-pointer by Aboona cut the lead to six at 23-17, but Emory would get the lead back to nine. Burnett scored on a put-back and a fast-break lay-up by sophomore Matt Paluckicut the advantage to five at 28-23 with 4:03 to play. After a full timeout by Emory with 3:33 remaining, the Bears ended the half on a 7-0 run with all seven points coming off the bench to trail 31-30 at intermission. JuniorKevin Bischoff had five of the last seven points for the Bears.
Washington U. outrebounded Emory 23-15, but was hampered by 14 turnovers in the opening half resulting in a 12-4 advantage in points off turnovers for the Eagles. The Bears had nine players score in the first half and shot 50 percent (12-24) from the field.
The Bears opened the second half on a 9-2 run to jump out in front by six (39-33), and led 41-37 with 14:57 remaining after a 30-second timeout by Emory. Jake Davis and Alex Foster nailed back-to-back three-pointers out of the timeout to give Emory the 43-41 lead, but the Bears responded with an 8-0 run on six points by Aboona to make it 49-43, forcing a full timeout by Emory.
Emory (14-6, 6-4 UAA) got the lead down to one at 52-51 with 6:42 to play, but a pair of lay-ups by Hoener and Burt quickly pushed the lead to 56-51. Burt nailed a jumper and added a lay-up to make it 60-53 forcing another timeout by Emory.
The Eagles trimmed the lead to three (68-65) on a lay-up by Greven with 37 seconds to play. After a timeout by Washington U., Michael Florin picked Aboona's pocket giving the Eagles one last chance. After Emory called its fifth timeout of the second half, Florin's three-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark. The Eagles were 6-of-20 from three-point range in the loss, including 4-of-15 in the second half.
Washington University (17-4, 7-3 UAA) closes out a four-game homestand Sunday, Feb. 8, at Noon, against No. 4 ranked University of Rochester. The Yellowjackets defeated the University of Chicago 68-57 in the Windy City to remain two games ahead of Washington U. and Brandeis University in the UAA standings.
Bear Notebook: Washington University leads the all-time series with Emory, 42-10, and the Bears have won 12 of the last 14 meetings … The Bears have swept the season series between the two teams in six of the last seven years … Washington University has a 8-1 record at home in 2012-13, and an 87-12 (.879) record dating back to the 2005-06 season … Washington U. is 7-0 on Friday's in 2012-13 season … Hoener has scored in double figures in five-straight games off the bench … Jacqueline Rose, a semifinalist on American Idol Season 11, performed the National Anthem.