Tonight, the Emory Men’s Basketball team will take on their last opponent of the 2013 calendar year when they take on cross town rival Oglethorpe University.
The squad worked through a rough beginning to it’s 2013-2014 campaign, averaging 69.0 points per game and suffering two early losses in their first three games. But, over the past five contests, they have kicked their offense into gear–averaging 99.0 points per game.
This success is largely a display of leadership from some of the squad’s upperclassmen. Senior guard McPherson Moore came off the bench this past week against Covenant College to contribute a team high 20 points, connecting eight of 14 from the floor as well as knocking down all three field goal attempts.
Senior forward Jake Davis has also led the squad in numerous areas–leading the team during the La Grange College Thanksgiving Tournament early this month, averaging 28 points per contest and shooting approximately 55% from the floor. His efforts by the end of the tournament marked his fourth straight contest of 20 or more points, as well as his second of 30 or more points. At this point, Davis holds the top spot in the UAA for scoring, with a 22.6 points-per-game cumulative average.
While it seems that the Eagles are coming into their own, Oglethorpe has had an outstanding beginning to their season. So far they have won eight out of nine games, coming off of a 81-67 win over Piedmont this past Saturday. Tonight’s match up against Oglethorpe will be the last game of the 2013 campaign for the Eagles before heading into the break.
Looking ahead to the 2014 portion of their season, junior Josh Schattie said that during the break the squad plans to learn from their early season mistakes. He said that as they continue to improve and win games, there are always ways to continually get better.
“Over the break we want to form our identity. Sometimes we just attempt to coast to the victory instead of working on getting better and asserting our dominance. I think every day we are going to try to improve on every aspect of our game,” said Schattie.
Forming their identity will prove important for the squad coming into the 2014 campaign, as they kick off the year with two quick non-conference games before entering into competitive conference play. But for now, Schattie said their focus remains on the game in front of them, when they take on the Petrels tonight at 7 PM at Dorough Field House on Oglethorpe’s campus.
