Emory Sports Information
Senior McPherson Moore led five Emory double-figure scorers with 16 points in leading the Eagles to a second-round win in the NCAA D-III Tournament Saturday evening over Centre College. The Eagles advanced to the Round of 16 for the second time in school history and upped their overall record to 18-8 following a 72-62 decision over the Colonels who closed out their year with a slate of 24-5.
Moore, who paced the squad’s scoring attack for the fifth straight game, ended the evening hitting five-of-10 from the floor, including a pair of three pointers in three attempts, along with all four free throws in, registering his 23rd straight and 24th double-digit outing of the season. Moore also grabbed a team-high seven boards. Moore had plenty of assistance in the scoring department with sophomore Will Trawick and junior Josh Schattie, who made his first start since the Oglethorpe game (Dec. 9), each contributing 13 points. Juniors Michael Florin and Alex Foster rounded out the team’s double-figure scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Emory finished the night hitting 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor compared to Centre’s 33.3 percent effort (19-of-57). The Colonels converted eight-of-24 from three-point range while Emory with a six-of-17 performance. Both teams were sharp from the charity stripe with the Eagles draining 80 percent (20-of-25) from the stripe, their sixth straight outing of 80 percent or better, while Centre hit 76.2 percent (16-of-21).
Playing without leading scorer Jake Davis, Emory trailed by a 19-13 margin with 10:45 left in the first half following a three pointer by Centre’s Josh Karsner. Emory rallied and closed out the stanza on a 20-8 run that featured scoring by seven different Eagles with Moore leading the way with six points in that stretch.
The Eagles scored seven of the first nine points in the second half, capped by a jumper by Trawick to take 40-29 advantage. Centre battled back to within three points following an 8-0 spurt to slice its deficit to three points with 12:25 on the clock. Trawick knocked down another jumper that extended Emory’s lead to 46-39, but a triple by the Colonels’ Ryan Murray drew the visitors back to within three points, 48-45, with 8:19 remaining. Emory answered with a clutch three pointer by senior Stephen Simmons to go up by six points before Karsner’s trey with 7:24 left cut Emory’s lead back to three points, 53-50. Karsner would lead the Center scoring effort with 16 points. A three-pointer by Moore and a three-point play by Schattie keyed a 10-4 Emory run that pushed its lead to 63-54 with 4:35 remaining. From that point, the closest Centre would get would be seven points as the Eagles fended off the Colonels by hitting 10-of-11 from the foul line over the final 2:24 of the game.
Emory will meet No. 1-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point (28-1) next Friday in the Sweet 16. The Pointers advanced after edging Central (IA), 76-71 at home on Saturday.
