DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Orlando native and Boone High School product Preston Adams came out a little cold as is expected at times in your freshman season, but the rookie quickly heated up in the second half and virtually took control of the game scoring 22 points to lead Florida Sun Conference first-place Warner Southern College (16-7 overall and 6-1 in the FSC) to a 58-57 road victory against Embry-Riddle University Tuesday night.

Adams, who was 0-for-4 in the first half (0-for-2 beyond the three-point arc), was 9-for-10 in the second half with four three-pointers.  ERAU (19-6 overall, 4-3 in the FSC) pushed the lead to 13 early in the second half and Adams kept the Royals in the game hitting back-to-back threes keeping it a 10-point game.  Denver Cobb gave Embry-Riddle a 43-30 lead on his three-point at the 15:12 mark of the game, but Adams countered with a jumper and Maurice Johnson followed with a three-pointer to cut the advantage to single-digits at 43-35.  The Royals were potent from beyond the arc in the second half converting 66.7 percent from downtown (6-of-9 and four from Adams).

The Eagles regained a 10-point lead on Tyler DeBord's layup 10:02 left, but Adams was relentless on the offensive end of the floor canning two more long-range buckets to trim the margin to 48-44 with 7:59 remaining.   Following a Houston Wright layup, Adams took over once again with a jumper and after an Eagle miss he came back with a driving layup to make it a two-point game 50-48 with just over seven minutes to go.

Alex Castillo tied the game with a jumper at the 4:50 mark and Drew Whitaker gave the Eagles a 51-50 lead splitting a pair of free throws.  Johnson made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to tie the game at 51 and then current FSC Player of the Week Brandon Hamilton sank a three-pointer with 1:43 left to give Warner Southern a 54-51 lead - their first lead since 12-11 at the 11:48 mark of the first half.

DeBord brought it back to a one-point game with a layup with 1:17 to go, but Adams converted another layin to push it to 56-53 Royals.  Cobb got loose around the tight pressure by WSC guarding against the three and made it a 56-55 ballgame with 49 ticks left.   After the teams traded timeouts Alex Castillo took the ball into the lane and was fouled by Cobb with 22 seconds and he calmly converted both attempts to give the Royals a 58-55 lead. 

After a Warner Southern timeout, the Eagles passed on the three-pointer to tie the game as DeBord drove the lane for the layup and the foul by Errol Porteous.  However, DeBord missed the free throw, but the ball went off a Warner Southern player and back to the Eagles with eight seconds to go.  ERAU took its final timeout of the game and inbounded the ball to DeBord who bobbled it for a second and turned to the basket but his layup attempt hit off the bottom of the backboard and then after a scramble for the board Drew Whitaker came up with it, found Ryan Ridder on the wing, but his three-point attempt missed and Porteous grabbed the board to end the game.  Porteous had seven points, but most importantly 13 boards (10 defensive) on the evening, and Hamilton added 11 points, five rebounds and three steals. 

DeBord finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while Cobb led the Eagles with 20 points.  Ryan Exter returned to the lineup and was 0-for-3 playing just 14 minutes.

The Eagles schedule gets no easier as they travel to Northwood on Saturday, Feb. 3rd for a 4 p.m. tip-off, while Warner Southern is idle this weekend before the five-hour trip to Savannah College of Art and Design next Wednesday Feb. 7th at 7 p.m.