ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Emory University held off a furious rally by the University of Rochester in the closing minutes to post a 64-61 victory in a men's Division III basketball game at the Louis Alexander Palestra on Saturday afternoon.
It was the season opener in the University Athletic Association for both teams. Emory is 8-3 overall, 1-0 in the UAA. The Eagles have won seven of their last eight outings. Rochester had a five-game winning streak snapped. The Yellowjackets are 8-3 overall, 0-1 in the UAA.
Emory's Matthew Schner led all scorers with 16 points. He hit 7 of 14 from the floor (2-7 outside the arc). He added eight rebounds and two assists. Schner scored on a fastbreak layup early in the second half to get his 1,000th career point. He is the 18th Emory men's player to score 1,000 or more points. Nick Stuck added 14 points for the Eagles. Romin Williams scored 12 and Mason Johnson had 10.
For Rochester, Trent Noordsij scored 13 points including three three-point goals. Andrew Jackson had 12 points and a career-high seven assists. Brian Amabilino Perez finished with 11 points.
T.C. Price scored five points and Amir Basma had four in a 9-0 run that pushed Rochester in front, 14-7, in the middle of the first half. Emory answered with a 16-2 run with Schner scoring 10 of the 16. It gave the guests a 23-16 lead with four and a half minutes left in the first half. Emory led, 28-19, at intermission.
Rochester couldn't chop away at the lead. Five minutes into the second half, Rochester was within eight, 36-28, after one free throw by Dan Masino. Emory scored 13 of the next 18 points for its largest lead, 49-33, with 9:44 left. Stuck was the catalyst. He scored nine of the 13 points.
The Yellowjackets used three-point goals from Jackson and Masino as part of a 10-0 burst to get within 49-43. Emory still led, 57-48, with just over four minutes to play before Rochester made its final run. Ross Gang sank a three from the left corner. Jackson hit one of two from the line. Gang hit another trey to pull UR within 59-55 with 2:12 left. Two free throws by Williams restored a six-point edge (61-55) but Jackson nailed a three from the right corner with 35.2 seconds left (61-58). Stuck's two free throws put Emory up 63-58, before Noordsij hit Rochester's fourth straight three (63-61) with 14 seconds left. Williams made one of two from the line with 13.4 seconds left.
UR ran the ball upccourt. Gang missed a three-pointer. Amabilino scrapped for the rebound and passed to Jackson whose shot hit the back iron and bounced away as the horn sounded.