Carrying a slim lead into the fourth quarter, the Emery Spartans were unable to hold off the Union Cougars late in a 52-45 setback Wednesday night in Roosevelt.

Sophomore Luke Justice increased the Emery advantage to 39-34 on the opening possession of the fourth quarter. Emery would score just six more points in the final 7:40 as the Cougars posted 18 points to earn the non-region victory.

The Spartans captured their first lead in the final two minutes of the first quarter and would hold an advantage until the fourth. Emery’s offense struggled to get rolling in each of the first three quarters, giving Union an opportunity to stay withing striking distance.

“We had a struggle coming out to start quarters,” said head coach Dave Justice. “We get into the flow of things and get into our offense, but we’ve got to be better at starting quarters.”

Senior Ryker Jensen scored a team best 10 points as he knocked down three shots from beyond the arc to lead the Spartans. Sophomore guards Wade Stilson and Luke Justice each poured in nine to lead the offensive push.

At times the Emery offense showed flashes of high levels of play, while at other times consistency was halted due to turnovers. Union managed to capitalize on the free possessions in the eventual win.

“It got loud and we kind of made mistakes with not being in the right spots late,” said Justice. “Those live ball turnovers will kill you. We had a few that turned into layups on the other end we have to take care of that.”

Now 1-3 overall on the season, the Spartans have played three of the first four games on the road. That trend will continue on Saturday as the team travels to meet the Uintah Utes.

Throughout the first four games Emery has developed an identity as a defense first team, allowing just 56 points per game. Offensively the highest output so far was a 50 point performance against Juan Diego.

“Our defense has been good and our offense has been good at times,” Justice said when asked about the start of the season. “We’ve had moments, but we have a few too many dry spells. Tonight we got some good looks, but we missed a few close ones. The season is going to be roller coaster, so we’ve got to keep better.”

Following Saturday’s game against Uintah, the Spartans will return home on Wednesday to meet American Leadership Academy.