DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Tenacious first-half defense by NCAA Division III Lebanon Valley (Pa.) held the No. 6 Embry-Riddle University men's basketball team to just 25.9 percent shooting in the first half to build a 32-19 halftime lead. The Flying Dutchmen withstood a late Eagle rush in the final five minutes, while turning up their own offensive efficiency shooting 66.7 percent (10-for-15) in the second half and hit six free throws in the final 49 seconds to record the 63-59 victory.

LVC (8-2) took the lead two minutes into the contest and never looked back pushing the margin to 22-10 at the 7:26 mark of the first half. Kyle Enoch, who registered seven first-half points, hit one of his two three-pointers on the night to give the Flying Dutchmen their largest lead of the night at 16 (28-12) with 3:35 to go in the opening half.

The Eagles (11-3) trimmed the lead to single-digits on a Denny Joseph layup with 9:14 remaining in the game and came as close as four points at 48-44 at the 5:01 mark on a Ryan Exter three-pointer. It was one of just three long-range buckets for the Eagles on the night. After receiving quality shooting performances from its backcourt the night before, ERAU struggled from beyond the arc as Exter was 3-for-12 from the field and just 2-for-9 from downtown, while Denver Cobb who had six three's on Thursday was 1-for-7 from the floor and 0-for-4 from long distance.

Lebanon Valley regrouped and built a nine-point cushion with 1:53 to go and led by five with 49 ticks left when Jimmy Curran hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Then Exter delivered another shot from downtown cutting it to three points at 58-55 with 41 seconds left.

However, LVC hit free throws when they needed to with Enoch hitting a pair after being fouled with 28 seconds and then Hunter Bretschneider hit 1-of-2 to make it a six-point game once again 61-55. Joseph hit a layup with 16 seconds, but Curran hit 1-of-2 on the next possession to make it a two-possession game. Denny Joseph was fouled from beyond the arc with six seconds left, but he missed the middle free throw which could have given the Eagles a chance to pull within two points. Instead Curran hit 1-of-2 and made it a four-point game where it ended 63-59.

ERAU is off until they host the Bahama House Classic Jan. 2-3 at Seabreeze, while the Eagles host the Carrabba's Shootout which will be played at Daytona Beach Community College and where the remainder of the ERAU schedule will be played.