Emory Bests Yeshiva in Historic Jewish Hoops Matchup

This Sunday afternoon at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis, the Emory men’s basketball team is gunning for its first-ever NCAA Division III national championship when it takes on the University of Mary Washington. But for many in Atlanta’s Jewish community, the Eagles have already played their most meaningful game of the spring.

The March 13 Sweet Sixteen matchup between Emory and Yeshiva was one of the most highly anticipated Jewish sporting events in Atlanta in recent memory. The Yeshiva University Maccabees touched down in Atlanta with a 22-8 record (including an immaculate 16-0 mark in Skyline Conference play) amid tremendous fanfare from the city’s Jewish community. The Georgia General Assembly paid tribute to the Macs’ milestone season by unveiling a Georgia House resolution, spearheaded by State Rep. Esther Panitch, honoring the program’s impact on global Judaic culture. The next morning, the Atlanta Jewish Academy bussed in dozens of students so they could attend a basketball game that resonated well beyond the on-court action.

And for a while, the regional semifinal game at Emory’s Woodruff PE Center lived up to the billing as Yeshiva, the only college hoops team unable to practice or play on Shabbat, went into the intermission of its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance staring down only a seven-point deficit. Behind dynamic senior guard Zevi Samet, the Macs hung tough against a heavily favored Emory squad before the Eagles put on a second-half clinic on both ends of the floor to prevail, 101-80, before 2,432 fans and secure their spot in the Elite Eight in Fort Wayne, Ind.

“Well, you never take it for granted,” said Emory veteran head coach Jason Zimmerman, who has been calling the shots in Atlanta since 2007. “It means a lot. That’s what we strive to do and there’s a lot of good teams out there. To be able to go two years in a row — our alumni base, our program, all the way from the 90s until now, guys texting, calling, it just means a lot. Guys following us from here, following us online. It’s a special achievement and it’s really hard to do.”

While Yeshiva was essentially a one-man show with Samet, exploding for 43 points to go along with six boards and five assists in his final collegiate game, Emory was clearly the more-balanced team, one with legitimate national title aspirations, as five players scored in double digits, including most notably senior guard Ben Pearce who paced Emory with 26 points on 8-17 shooting and the dynamic frontcourt duo of Ethan Fauss and AJ Harris, who each went off for 19 points.

After Emory raced out to an imposing 19-5 advantage in the opening minutes, Yeshiva — a program that has become one of the most recognizable in American college basketball — had an answer, courtesy of Samet, the product of Torah Academy of Bergen County who’s widely considered one of the most gifted players in Division III hoops. Sporting his trademark kippah and representing legions of young Orthodox ballplayers across continents, Samet was lights out from the field (15-24) and behind the arc (6-9). After Samet nailed a jumper with 1:28 remaining in the first half, Yeshiva was merely trailing 45-42 and the Eagles were on neon-flashing upset alert. But Emory wouldn’t let it get any closer as the reigning UAA champs outscored the visitors by a 56-38 margin the rest of the way to secure the cruise-control victory.

“[Samet] is one of the best shot makers that I’ve played against in my four years,” acknowledged Pearce in his postgame comments. “You mess up a coverage, even a little bit, he’s going to make the shot. That’s just the type of player he is. We tip our cap to him. He had 43 points, but we were OK with that if that means we win how we won.”

After just slipping past Roanoke College (an 83-81 OT thriller) in Round Two, Zimmerman was able to give his core rotation players a much-needed breather after a dizzying first half of fast-break heavy basketball.

Emory’s superior depth was on sparkling display as in addition to the sterling performances from Pearce, Fauss, and Harris, guard Jair Knight chipped in 15 points while forward Mario Awasum put up 17 by going a remarkably efficient 7-8 from the field. As a team, Emory had the clear advantage on the glass, out rebounding Yeshiva 49-34 and only yielding nine offensive rebounders to the
visitors.

Yeshiva may have had the best player on the court in Samet, but the better team won and Emory marched on to the heartland for the final rounds of the NCAA tournament. But thanks to Yeshiva and its devoted road-tripping fanbase, Emory may never play in a gymnasium as jam-packed and boisterous as Woodruff PE Center was on the afternoon of Friday, March 13.

“The atmosphere in the gym at 11:30 [1.5 hours before tipoff] was electric,” said Zimmerman. “To see the following that Yeshiva has is really special. We’ve been blessed, we’ve got a couple Jewish guys on our team now. In my 19 years, I’ve had a ton of Jewish guys — some of them are my best friends right now. That pride that comes from following Yeshiva, it helped us as well. It helped us play better because we like to talk about when there’s energy in the gym, you can do two things. You can get distracted or you can narrow your focus. I thought we were narrowly focused there for a while.”

Following the blowout win over Yeshiva, the Eagles squeaked past Illinois Wesleyan University, 83-78, in the regional final before dusting off Christopher Newport University, 72-58, in the Final Four to punch their ticket to the national title game.