OPA LOCKA, Fla. -- For the sixth year in a row, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team earned the right to play in the championship game of The Sun Conference tournament as the fourth-seeded Eagles defeated No. 8 Edward Waters 78-66 in the semifinals of the 2009 edition of the tournament on Friday night.  The Eagles, led by 22 points and 12 rebounds from Tyler DeBord, spoiled the Tigers' hopes of another upset after Edward Waters toppled No. 1 seed Northwood to advance to this year's Final Four.

“Our guys demonstrated incredible determination and exhibited all out toughness in finding a way to put ourselves in the championship game,” head Coach Steve Ridder commented.” We've had back-to-back games where we've had strong second half effort defensively and offensively with key players making big plays down the stretch.”

Sporting a new starting line-up, the Eagles jumped out to a five-point lead courtesy of a Denver Cobb three-pointer and a pair of free throws by DeBord. It didn't take long for the Tigers to get into the game as they scored six unanswered to take a 6-5 lead at the 16:55 mark.

Ray Graham hit a lay-up to reclaim the lead for the Blue and Gold, and despite shooting just 36.4 percent from the field, the Eagles increased their advantage to as many as eight points before taking a 33-31 lead into the halftime break.

The Tigers started the second half the same way the Eagles started the first with a three pointer and a pair of free throws to take 36-33 lead with 19:06 left to play. With the score at 38-37 in favor of the Tigers, DeBord got three points the old-fashioned way to put the Eagles ahead, 40-38.

Edward Waters tied the ball game on the next possession, but Danny Deaver connected on his first three-pointer of the evening to give the Eagles a 43-40 lead with 14:41 left to play and they never looked back. Deaver's three began a 17-4 run that resulted in a 60-44 lead at the 8:05 mark.

The Tigers made 14 baskets in the second half, while the Eagles connected on 12 of their 24 attempts. But the difference came at the free throw line where the Eagles were 18-of-21, while the Tigers only made five trips to the charity stripe in the half.

With 1:21 left on the clock, the Tigers were able to make it a six-point game, 70-64, but the Eagles hit all eight of their free throws down the stretch and mixed in a couple of lay-ups to roll to victory.
DeBord joined three other Eagle scorers in double figures, including Cobb (17), Ray Graham (13) and Glenn Dalcourt who finished with 10 points, six of which came from the free throw line in the final 2:37 of the game.

The Eagles also received solid minutes from Ryan Christian who had five points, seven boards and two assists coming off the bench.

“Ryan was the obvious impact player off the bench tonight,” Ridder stated. “He has prepared for his moment all year and tonight he played the very best game of his career. No one else deserves to have success more than Ryan. He has paid his dues and is one of the hardest workers in the history of our program. It's great to watch his teammates embrace his success and his all- out effort.”

Byron Shemwell led the Tiger offense with 18 points as the Tigers' season came to an end at 12-18.

The Eagles will face St. Thomas in the title game at 7 p.m. on Saturday.  The Bobcats made it through to the tournament championship with a 75-63 win over Warner.