HELENA, Mont. ? Despite a great second half effort in which they outscored their opponent 52-39, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team was unable to pull out a victory as Montana Western edged the Eagles 95-90 at the Carroll College Classic on Friday.

The Bulldogs grabbed the lead early in the first half and were able to keep it for the remainder of the game. They connected on 23 of 36 field goals, shooting 64 percent from the field, and out-rebounded the Eagles 19-7 in the first half.

Tyler DeBord, Denver Cobb, and Eric Lorenzi finished the first half with seven points each while Glenn Dalcourt and Danny Deaver went two-for-two from the three-point line, ending the half with six points a piece.

Down by 18 at the half (56-38), the Eagles picked up their defensive effort in the final 20 minutes of the game, holding their opponent to 40 percent from the field and only 39 points in the second frame.

The Eagles pulled to within 10 at the 13-minute mark, but the Bulldogs were able to stretch the lead back to 15 with a lay up by JaRon Brown and a three-pointer from Chad Myers. Four consecutive free throws by the Eagles' offense and a lay up by Brandon Caputo put the Eagles within 12 at 76-64 with seven minutes to go.

A 5-0 run led by an offensive rebound and a stick back by Ray Graham allowed the Eagles to cut the lead to just seven. A defensive stop and four points by DeBord put the Eagles within three with just 2:43 to play.

The Eagles were unable to control the tempo as the Bulldogs fired right back, scoring five consecutive points moving their lead to 85-77.

DeBord capitalized on a great pass from Danny Krazit with under one minute to go, as he got the basket and a foul. DeBord sunk the free throw, putting the Eagles' just one point shy of the Bulldogs, 89-88.

Two free throws for Layne Glaus heightened the lead to three for the Bulldogs with 32 seconds remaining in the contest.

Lorenzi knocked down a jumper for the Eagles, to make it a one-point game once again, but another foul against the Eagles allowed Montana Western's Glaus to sink two free throws, increasing the Bulldog margin to three.

The Eagles pushed the ball passed the timeline where Krazit found an open Lorenzi for a chance to tie the game at 93, but Lorenzi was unable to connect from beyond the arc and the Bulldogs drained two more free throws to secure the 95-90 win.

DeBord finished with 21 points and seven rebounds. Lorenzi recorded 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Dalcourt was perfect from the three-point line (2-2) and the free throw line (4-4) finishing with 12 points. Cobb scored 15 and had five assists and Krazit added six assists and five points for the Eagles. Graham and Deaver combined for 19 points off the bench, with Graham going six-for-seven from the field for 13 points, while Deaver added six.

The Bulldogs leading scorer was Myers, with 17. Eric Lipkin, Brandon Lawson, and Cody Theringer each recorded 13.

The Eagles' next game will be at 8 p.m. (MST) against host Carroll College, who topped MidAmerica Nazarene 93-70 in their tournament opener.