University of Rochester men's basketball fell to the 12th-ranked Emory University Eagles, 103-70, in its final contest of the regular season on Sunday afternoon inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
After the Eagles jumped out to an early 11-4 advantage, the Yellowjackets made their way back with a run of their own, turning a seven-point deficit into a three-point UR lead midway through the first.
 
Trailing 11-4, Ethan McEachern slowed Emory's run with a pair of free throws, while after the Eagles came up empty despite a pair of offensive rebounds on the other end, Justin Odibo knocked down a corner three to make it a two-point game with just over four minutes in.
 
Just shy of a minute later, Theo Murray took Ben Pearce's turnover the length of the court for two to level the score at 11-all, and then hit a three-pointer two possessions later to give UR its first lead, 14-11, with 13:39 left in the first.
 
After Logan Jagodzinski answered Logan Shananhan's layup with a two-pointer of his own, the 'Jackets' lead stood at three, 16-13, with 11:30 remaining in the first half, but a 7-0 Emory run, coinciding with four-straight empty trips down the floor, gave the Eagles a 20-16 advantage they'd never relinquish.
 
Jagodzinski answered Jair Knights' triple with one of his own to make it a one-point game, while two free throws from Bennett Kwiecinski again pulled UR within a point, 22-21, with 7:32 left in the half.
 
However, a 15-2 run over the next 4:51 would stretch Emory's lead out to double digits, with Shanahan's layup, two of his six points over the five-minute stretch, made it 37-23 Emory with 1:48 to play in the opening period.
 
Rochester would close the gap to 10, 41-31, to end the first half on threes from McEachern and Odibo, and then came out of the locker room strong, scoring the first five points of the second half to pull within five, 41-36, on Kwiecinski's three-pointer at the 17:30 mark of the second.
 
Two McEachern free throws again made it a five-point game with 16:21 left, but a quick 8-2 spurt brought the Eagles out to a nine-point lead, 54-43.
 
David Ackles answered AJ Harris' layup with a dunk to cut the lead back to single digits, while McEachern hit another three, one of three on the afternoon for the senior, to make it a six-point game, but that'd be as close as Rochester would get the rest of the way.
 
Another 8-0 run extended the Eagles' lead to 14, while an 8-0 spurt at the 10:30 mark turned a 12-point lead into a 20-point advantage, 74-54, with 9:15 to play. Knight got going with six points over the 1:22 stretch, while Cale Martens and Harris each knocked down threes to extend Emory's lead out to 24, 83-59.
 
The Eagles would keep on rolling, despite threes from McEachern and Odibo, with back-to-back threes from John Coppolino IV getting Emory to the century mark, before the 12th-ranked Eagles wrapped up the 103-70 victory.
 
McEachern led the Yellowjackets with a career-high 24 points, shooting 50 percent from the floor and 11-for-12 from the free-throw line, while Kwiecinski joined the senior in double figures with 12 points.
 
For Emory, Knight had a game-high 29 points, adding eight rebounds, while Shanahan notched 22 points and four blocks.
 
As a team, Rochester shot 32.3 percent, while the Eagles connected on 55.1 percent of their shots. Both teams knocked down 19 free throws, while UR sank one more three than Emory.
 
With the loss, UR wraps up the 2024-25 campaign at 7-18 (1-13 UAA), while the Eagles sit at 20-5 (10-4 UAA) on the year.