LAKE WALES, Fla. ? A balanced scoring effort lifted the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team to their ninth Florida Sun Conference win of the season as the 17th-ranked Eagles topped Warner Southern 60-66 on Saturday. The Eagles had four players in double figures, including double-double performances from Tyler DeBord (18 points, 14 rebounds) and Eric Lorenzi (15 points, 10 rebounds), to improve their record to 24-4 overall and 9-3 in league play.
The Royals scored the first five points of the game as Tommy Kleinschnitz opened with a three-pointer followed by a Dennis Bender jumper. But the Eagles stormed back, outscoring the Royals 10-0 over the next three minutes and led by as many as eight before taking a 34-29 lead into the locker room at the half.
Both teams were evenly matched from the field in the first half with the Eagles scoring 11 baskets to the Royals' 13, and ERAU connecting on three three-point baskets to Warner Southern's two. But the difference was at the free throw line as the Eagles converted on nine of their 11 attempts, while the Royals managed only one of six from the charity stripe.
Warner Southern closed the gap to two with 13:34 left in the game. But the Eagles, behind back-to-back threes by Denver Cobb (14 points, 8 rebounds), increased the margin to 10 points over the next two minutes to take a 51-41 lead.
With 5:17 left on the clock, Lorenzi hit his second three of the night to extend the advantage to 13 points. But the Royals, led by Preston Adams' 11 second-half points, continued to battle hard. In the closing minutes of the game, the Royals still had fouls to give and the gamble paid off as they were able to force a couple of turnovers and reduce the margin to four points with 34 seconds left.
As Warner Southern continued to foul, the Eagles only managed to hit three of their last six free throw attempts. But the defense made up of for the free throw struggles as the Eagles pulled down key rebounds off Warner Southern misses to hold on for the six-point win.
The Eagles' next game will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when they host league leader Northwood at the ICI Center.
