ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Davis Rao and Adam Gigax combined for 46 points to lead Emory University to an 84-75 victory over the University of Rochester on Saturday afternoon and a berth into the Division III basketball playoffs.
The Eagles (18-7, 11-3) won the University Athletic Association championship – and with it, the UAA's Pool A (automatic) berth into the playoffs. The UAA is the only one of 43 men's basketball leagues in Division III that does not hold a post-season tournament.
Rochester (17-8, 10-4) finished second in the UAA race. The Yellowjackets lost their second in a row after reeling off a nine-game winning streak that brought them even with Emory and made Saturday's game a championsip game. Rochester becomes a candidate for one of 19 Pool C (at-large) berths.
The NCAA will announce its tournament selections on Monday at 12:30 p.m. Play begins on Thursday with two out-bracket games. Fourteen four-team pods will begin on Friday. Two teams will get byes in the 62-team field. Winners of the two Thursday games will advance to the second round, playing at one of the 'bye' teams.
Rao led all scorers with 25 points. He hit 7-10 from the floor, 2-4 outside the arc, and 9-10 from the foul line. He also had seven rebounds. Gigax scored 21 points on 5-8 floor shooting, 2-3 on three-pointers, and 9-9 at the line. Will Trawick scored 13 points and added seven rebounds. Jonathan Terry scored 13 points off the bench, including three three-pointers.
Emory hit an even 50% from the floor (26-52), made 11 of 25 three-pointers, and sank 21 of 25 free throw attempts. The Eagles hit 11 of their last 12 at the charity stripe over the final 1:12 as Rochester reached the forced-to-foul stage.
Michael Mangan led Rochester with a career high 20 points. Sam Borst-Smith, limited somewhat by foul trouble, scored 16 points. Dylan Peretz had 15 plus a dozen rebounds. Jacob Wittig scored 11 points.
Emory led by as much as nine several times in the first half, the last time at 26-17 after Gigax spun through the lane for a short jumper. Rochester got a three-pointer from Borst-Smith and four free throws by Wittig in the next 90 seconds to close within 26-24. Rao drove the left baseline for a layup and Gigax knocked down a three-pointer to push the lead back to seven. Emory led, 37-31, at the half.
Five points from Mangan and two by Witting in the first 90 seconds helped Rochester climb within 39-38. Gigax hit a trey from the top of the key to ignite a n 8-0 run that pushed the Eagles back up by nine, 47-38, with 15:40 left.
Rochester answered with an extended 12-3 spurt to tie the score at 50-50. Wittig and Brendan O'Shea hit three-point goals. The last six points all came from Peretz. His putback tied it with 10:40 left (50-50).
That set the stage for two more flurries – one by each team. Emory went on a 9-1 binge (Rao had four of the points) and Rochester replied with a 10-3 run. Borst-Smith sank a three from the left corner with 6:53 to go, getting Rochester within 62-60. He later made two free throws to keep the deficit at two, 66-64, with 4:26 on the clock.
Terry's third three-pointer of the game – this one from the top of the key – was the key blow. It stretched Emory's lead to 69-64 with just over four minutes remaining. When Trawick scored off the left block, the seven-point edge was there again. Peretz and Gigax swapped baskets in the next 30 seconds, and that set the stage for the free-throw barrage.