St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 31, 2016 – Sophomore center David Schmelter scored a career-high 16 points off the bench but it was not enough as the Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team suffered an 82-73 loss at home to Emory University Sunday in University Athletic Association (UAA) play at the WU Field House.

Emory won its fourth-straight game to improve to 13-5, 6-1 in the UAA. The Eagles are in sole possession of first place in the UAA standings. WashU dropped its sixth-straight home game and fell to 10-8, 2-5 in the UAA.

Schmelter was 5-of-7 from the field and 6-of-10 from the free-throw line as he scored in double figures for the third time his career.

Sophomore guard Kevin Kucera (13 points, six assists), sophomore forward Andrew Sanders(13 points, 10 rebounds), sophomore forward Matt Highsmith (12) and junior forward Clinton Hooks (10) also scored in double figures.

WashU shot 44.2 percent (23-of-52) from the field in the loss, and struggled from the line connecting on 20-of-32. The Bears had 19 assists on 23 field goals, and were outrebounded 35-34.

The score was tied eight times and the lead changed hands five times in the opening half. Emory gained the six-point lead (16-10) on a three by Beau Bommarito, but WashU answered back to take the 21-20 lead after a pair of free-throws by Schmelter.

Emory countered with a 7-0 run behind four points from Will Trawick to build a 27-21 advantage with 6:18 left. The Bears followed with a 6-0 run to make it 35-33.

Whit Rapp, the younger brother of former WashU forward Jordan Rapp, scored 11 of the last 12 points of the first half for the Eagles. Rapp hit a three-pointer from the right wing as time expired to put Emory up 43-40.

Sanders had 10 points and seven points to lead the Bears, while Highsmith added eight. WashU hit 13-of-18 from the foul line and had 10 assists on 12 field goals.

After Hooks hit a three-pointer on the opening possession, WashU trailed for the remaining 19:21 of the second half. Emory got the lead up to 54-46 with 15:56 to play which forced a WashU timeout.

The Eagles took their largest lead of the game at 61-50 with 12:33 left after a pair of free-throws by Trawick. He was 9-of-10 from the foul line in the second half and finished with a game-high 24 points.

The Bears got the lead down to five (65-60) after a monstrous dunk by Schmelter, and then cut the lead to 71-67 with 5:01 to play after a pair of three-throws by Kucera. WashU struggled from the foul line in the second half hitting just 7-of-14, including two front ends of a 1-and-1.

David Rao (16 points), Adam Gigax (14) and Rapp (13 points, 10 assists) also scored in double figures for Emory. The Eagles hit 20-of-28 from the foul line and had a 14-2 advantage in fast-break points.

WashU begins the second half of conference play with road games at the University of Rochester on Friday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m. (ET) and at Emory on Sunday, Feb. 7, at Noon (ET).

BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Emory, 45-12, and the win by the Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak in St. Louis … Silverman-Lloyd has connected on a three-pointer in all 18 games this season.