13 Threes Not Enough as UR Falls at Emory in Season Finale
ATLANTA, GA – University of Rochester men’s basketball hit a season-high 13 three-pointers and rallied back from a 17-point, first-half deficit but fell to the Emory University Eagles, 79-76 on Friday evening in their regular-season finale at the Woodruff P.E. Center.
The Yellowjackets connected on 13-of-33 attempts from beyond the arc, including a career-high six makes for Corvin Oprea, but up by one, the Eagles corralled three offensive rebounds on their final possession. And after Albert Fallas went 2-for-2 at the free throw line, Malachi Moore’s game-tying triple clanked off the side of the rim, and the Eagles escaped with a three-point victory.
Rochester led by as many as six in the early going, scoring their first seven buckets inside the paint. Logan Shanahan broke the seal for Emory with his layup 12 seconds in before Andrew Jacksonmatched him on the other end, leveling the score at 2-2.
Matt Wiele and Tomiwa Adetosoye would extend UR’s lead to 6-2 with two more from inside the paint over the next minute before Logan Jagodzinskiscored his first points of the night to make it a 10-4 lead just past the 16-minute mark of the first.
The ‘Jackets would hold their six-point lead till AJ Harris and Fallas sank back-to-back threes with 10:50 to play in the first, tying the score at 16-all, and though Ackles gave UR the lead back on the ensuing possession, the Eagles scored the next five to take a 21-18 lead.
Free throws from Adetosoye and Oprea gave Rochester the lead right back, but Emory answered with a monstrous run, outscoring the Yellowjackets, 20-2 over the next six minutes. UR shot just 1-for-12 over the stretch, while the Eagles hit 6-for-10 from the field to take a 41-27 lead on two Cale Martens’ free throws with just over 2:25 left in the first.
However, just when it looks like Emory might pull away, the Yellowjackets found their rhythm and got on a run to end the period. Jagodzinski hit a three to slow Emory’s run, and while Ethan Fauss answered with another triple on the other end, Oprea got going offensively, hitting his first of six threes on UR’s ensuing possession.
Oprea sank his first three to cut Emory’s lead to 14, as Oprea and Moore would combine for 11-straight points to end the half, and send Rochester into the locker room down by just six, 44-38.
And after hitting two threes over the final minute-and-a-half of the first, Oprea knocked down three more to start the third. The sophomore scored all 11 of Rochester’s points to open the second half, pulling the ‘Jackets within one, 50-49, with his layup with 16:15 to play.
Adetosoye then gave Rochester its first lead since midway through the first, knocking down a layup and hitting two free throws to make it a three-point game. Just shy of a minute later, Moore connected on yet another free, and then Jagodzinski hit one himself, and after trailing by 17 with 2:25 left in the first, the Yellowjackets led by nine, 59-50, with 12:35 remaining.
In total, Rochester outscored the Eagles, 35-9 over a 10-minute stretch, shooting 12-for-23 from the field and 9-for-12 from beyond the arc. Oprea scored 19 of his game-high 26 points over the stretch, while Jagodzinki and Moore each tallied six.
But Emory would answer with a quick run of their own, scoring 10 straight to retake the lead on Shanahan’s triple with 9:49 to play, and after Wiele briefly gave Rochester a 62-60 lead, Shanahan scored a layup to tie the game at 62.
Down the stretch, Rochester and Emory traded leads, with nine ties and 10 lead changes throughout the contest. Oprea sank another three to give Rochester a 67-64 advantage, but Martens’ layup and Ben Pearce’s three just minutes later put the Eagles back in front, 71-68.
Moore scored UR’s next six points, first a three to tie the score at 71, before his three at the 2:26 mark made it a one-point game. After a turnover by Jair Knight and a steal by Jagodzinski, Oprea drew a foul on the fastbreak and headed to the line for two.
The sophomore hit them both, putting the ‘Jackets up 76-75, but Knight’s floater gave Emory the lead right back on the Eagles’ next possession. Down one, Emory came up with a stop, and though UR forced a miss as well, the Eagles would collect three offensive rebounds on their final possession, taking off nearly 40 seconds before UR was forced to foul.
Rochester sent Fallas to the line, who hit them both, and Moore’s potential game-tying three-pointer with just seconds left fell off the mark, giving the Eagles a 79-76 victory.
Emory wraps up the year at 15-10 (6-8 UAA), while the ‘Jackets finish the 2023-24 campaign with a 10-15 (4-10 UAA) record.
Oprea led all scorers with 26 points, one shy of his career high, while Adetosoye and Moore each added 12 and Jagodzinski notched 11. Adetosoye also added a team-high nine rebounds, while Wiele led UR with five assists, and Jagodzinski recorded a team-high three steals and two blocks.
After shooting 50 percent from three in the second half, Rochester shot 39.4 percent overall from deep and 37.0 percent overall for the contest. Emory connected on 31-of-71 attempts, a 43.7 percent clip, and hit 9-of-25 from beyond the arc.