Case Western Reserve University junior guard Sam Trunley came off the bench to score a career-high 33 points and connect on a school-record-matching eight three-point shots to lead the second-ranked Spartans to a 90-86 win over 22nd-ranked Emory University in Atlanta on Friday night.

The win was the Spartans' first over the Eagles on the road since February 28, 2009. It was the third-straight win for CWRU, which improved to 14-1 overall and moved into a two-way tie with Carnegie Mellon for first place in the conference with a 3-1 University Athletic Association record. Emory fell to 1-3 in the UAA and to 10-5 overall for the season.

Trunley registered a career day for the Spartans with his 33 points tying him for the seventh-most in a single game by a CWRU player in program history. He shot nine-of-16 overall, 7-of-10 from the free throw line, and made eight-of-13 three-point attempts, matching former Spartan Mitch Prendergast's program record for three-pointers made in a game, set originally on March 11, 2022, in the Round of 16 of the NCAA Championship against Mary Hardin-Baylor. Trunley added three rebounds, four assists, and a career-high matching three steals in the game.

Trunley's 33 points scored were the most scored in a game by a Spartan player since T.J. Duckett registered 34 points against Mount Saint Joseph on November 25, 2017.

Graduate student guard Anthony Mazzeo added 25 points, five assists, and four rebounds in the game, marking the fifth time in the last six games he has scored at least 25 and the seventh time overall this season. Graduate student forward Colin Kahl notched his first double-double as a Spartan, scoring 13 points and collecting a career-high 15 rebounds.

The Spartans were able to take control of the game midway through the first half with a 14-2 run that turned a 23-23 contest with 10:14 left in the period to a 37-25 CWRU lead with 7:20 to play. Trunley scored nine points during the run, making three three-point shots in just over a minute. It was part of a 23-point first-half barrage from Trunley, who made six-of-seven three-point attempts in the period, including one with 1:18 left that gave CWRU a 13-point lead, 48-35, its largest of the game. An Emory basket just before the final buzzer made it a 48-37 lead heading into halftime.

While CWRU led for the entire second half, the Eagles were able to quickly make a game of it, but the Spartans were able to find a response to each of the Emory runs. The Eagles cut the lead to a point, 59-58, with 14:13 left, but CWRU answered with a 9-0 run to increase its lead back to double digits, 68-58, with 12:09 to play. It remained at least a two-possession game until Emory trimmed the advantage to three points, 85-82, with 1:19 left, and to just two points after a free throw with 53 seconds to play. However, the Spartans took nearly all of the time off the shot clock on their next possession before Mazzeo hit a long jumper to extend the team's lead back to four points with 29 seconds left on the clock. The Eagles scored on each of their next two possessions, but junior forward Umar Rashid and Trunley each connected on key free throws in the final 11 seconds of the game to help secure the road win for the Spartans.

Behind Trunley and an eight-point output from senior forward Ian Elam, the Spartans' bench outscored Emory's 41-2 in the game. Friday's game was the seventh time this season that CWRU has scored at least 90 points in a game.

CWRU finished the game shooting 43.5% (30-69) overall and 43.3% (13-30) from three-point range.

The Spartans will look to keep their winning streak going when the team heads to Rochester, New York for a 12:00 p.m. matchup at the University of Rochester on Sunday.