ATLANTA – The University of Rochester men's basketball team saw its season come to a close on Saturday afternoon, falling in a close matchup at #3 Emory University, with the Eagles coming away with a 93-89 victory at the Woodruff Physical Education Center.
 
With the win, coupled with a UChicago loss, the host Eagles (22-3, 12-2 UAA) captured the University Athletic Association title and automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, set to begin next week. It is Emory's ninth UAA title overall and seventh solo crown.
 
URochester (11-14, 4-10 UAA) can also hold its head high, despite the loss, as the Yellowjackets finished the season setting a new school record for scoring average in a season. In 2025-26, UR averaged 82.3 points per game, eclipsing the old University record of 81.8 set all the way back in the 1963-64 season.
 
On Saturday, seniors Tomiwa Adetosoye and Corvin Oprea closed out their careers by being URochester's leading scorers with 24 and 19 points, respectively. Adetosoye added eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Oprea chipped in seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
 
First-year Jordan Owusu added 16 points, including a team-high four 3-pointers, while John Mayhew scored 13 points and added seven rebounds.
 
The 3rd-ranked Eagles were led by senior Ben Pearce who became Emory's all-time leading scorer last weekend. Pearce finished with 32 points, 10 assists and 2 steals, while making 5 3-pointers. Fellow senior Jair Knight closed out the regular season with a 23-point, 5-rebound, 3-steal effort, while Ethan Fauss added 19 points and six rebounds for the Eagles.
 
To open the game, Mayhew and Oprea gave the Yellowjackets a quick 4-0 lead after a minute and a half had elapsed off the clock. The lead was short live through, as Pearce hit an and-one play and John Coppolino IV drained a triple to put the Eagles in front 90 seconds later.
 
An Adetosoye jumper tied the game back up, but Emory followed with a 15-4 run over the next five minutes to race out to a 21-10 advantage. Fauss had eight points in the Eagle surge, including back-to-back three's to make it 16-8 on the scoreboard.
 
Later in the half, the Yellowjackets went on a 13-6 spurt, that ended with six straight Oprea points, to trim the margin to just four points, 32-28, with seven minutes left.
 
Emory regained its composure and held the lead the rest of the half, eventually heading to the locker room at halftime up nine, 52-43.
 
In the second half, the Yellowjackets scored ten of the first 12 points to pull within one point, trailing just 54-53, after an Owusu 3-pointer.
 
Knight answered with a triple, followed by a Mario Awasum dunk and A.J. Harris layup to extend the Eagles lead back to eight points.
 
The teams traded mini-runs throughout most of the rest of the contest until the Yellowjackets scored six straight points in the final three minutes to pull within three points, down 87-84 following an Oprea twisting layup in the paint.
 
URochester was unable to get the stops it needed though, and was forced to foul Pearce and Fauss, who went to the free throw line and made six of eight attempts in the final minute to seal away the win.
 
Statistically, the teams finished fairly close during Saturday's contest. Emory finished at 50.7% shooting (34-67), while UR was at 48.5% (33-68). Emory made 11 triples to URochester's nine, while the Yellowjackets ended up winning the rebound battled 41 to 34.