DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Embry-Riddle University's Ryan Exter scored a season-high 25 points (five three-pointers), added six assists and was 8-for-9 from the free throw line including the final two points of the night to put the game out of reach as the No. 7 Eagles recorded a 78-74 victory against Savannah College of Art and Design Thursday night.
The game was full of runs started by Embry-Riddle (19-3, 4-0 FSC) with a 19-6 surge in the first eight minutes behind 11 from Exter who was 4-for-5 from the floor (three long-range buckets). However, the see-saw of momentum tipped in favor of the Bees with a 14-0 run as Gerard Bowden and Kevin Polit had four apiece to take their first lead of the game 20-19 with 5:39 to go in the opening half. Bowden finished the night matching Exter jumper-for-jumper with 27 points, seven assists and two steals.
The Eagles led by six at 29-23 with 1:12 before the intermission, but Bowden scored the final five Bees points of the half on a three-pointer and two free throws trimming the margin to one point 29-28 with 22 seconds left. SCAD (9-13, 1-3 FSC) played strong defense on the Eagles final possession of the half forcing a missed three-pointer by Denver Cobb, but Nick Miller was there for the leaning tip-in at the buzzer to go into the locker room with a 31-28 lead.
After trading early baskets in the first five minutes of the second half, the Eagles broke a 43-43 tie posting the first run of the half with an 8-1 push claiming a 52-44 advantage behind the four of many charity stripe conversions for Miller. Entering the night shooting 75.0 percent, Miller hit all seven of his free throws. This was certainly one of the keys to the game as the Eagles shot 88.2 percent as a team after entering shooting 68.8 percent. He finished the night with 17 points and eight boards.
SCAD returned the spurt with a 16-6 run to pull ahead 60-56 at the 6:01 mark behind six from Nick Maloy and four from Bowden. The Bees pushed the lead to 66-1 wth 4:10 to go on Peter McDonald's layup. ERAU went on a 10-0 run to take a 71-66 lead with 1:44 to go on a Cobb three-pointer, two Miller layups and a pair of free throws from Ryan Ridder. Cobb, who struggled from the field on the night going 1-for-9 before hitting his final two shots of the night with a layup at the 5:31 mark and his three at 3:28, finished with 11 points.
Maloy tied the game for the sixth time of the night 71-71 with a layup and a three-pointer over the next 23 seconds, but that was as close as they would come. Miller hit a layup and after the teams traded free throws on the next two possessions. Exter scored the final three points of the game from the free throw line. Exter made 1-of-2 with 20 seconds left and the Bees had a shot to tie the game or take the lead, but Maloy got in trouble on the left baseline losing the handle on the basketball and after regaining control shot the ball off the left edge of the backboard and Exter grabbed the rebound and was fouled. This time he sank both to post the 78-74 win.
Maloy was the only other SCAD player in double-figures with 11 points, while Polit added nine and Eze Andrews had eight points along with 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.
