The No. 13 ranked Emory University men's basketball program won its home opener Saturday afternoon, defeating Guilford College 66-55 at the Woodruff PE Center in Atlanta, GA.
Freshman Cale Martens registered a team-high 17 points while senior Romin Williams netted a season-high 14 points in 30 minutes off the bench. Fellow senior Matthew Schner recorded his second straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and classmate Nick Stuck handed out eight assists to go along with six points. The Eagles knocked down a season-best 13 shots from three point land with Williams leading the way, going 4-for-8 from distance. Emory limited the Quakers to just 27.9% from the floor while shooting 45.3% (24-for-53) as a team.
Guilford's Liam Ward led all scorers with 18 points and added five steals while teammate Julius Burch had 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds including five on the offensive glass. The Quakers held a 45-35 advantage in the rebounding category and had 22 offensive boards compared to Emory's seven. However, both teams were in even in second chance points at 14-14.
A sluggish start saw Guilford race out to a 15-6 lead through the game's opening seven minutes but an 11-0 counter by the Eagles with triples by both Williams and Schner brought Emory back in front at 17-15. Neither side could gain much separation for the rest of the half with the Eagles leading by as many as four before the teams went into halftime with the score 31-29 in favor of Emory.
The second half was a see-saw affair with both sides staying within three points of one another until Emory went in front 57-53 on a Logan Shanahan three pointer at the 4:50 minute mark before the Quakers responded with a Ward made jumper at 3:12 to make it a two-point ballgame again. That was as close as Guilford would get as back-to-back three pointers by Williams and Martens clinched the game, helping Emory log a 9-0 run across the game's final three minutes.
The Eagles face a quick turnaround as they will host No. 23 ranked Maryville College Sunday afternoon at the WoodPEC. Tip off in Atlanta is slated for 3:00 PM.