MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The 17th-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team scored 42 points in the second half for a hard-fought 75-54 victory over Johnson & Wales (Fla.) in Sun Conference play on Friday evening.
Looking at the statistics, a basketball fan could formulate an opinion about who the top contributors were for the Eagles, but the stat sheet did not tell the complete story of a solid team performance that saw every player who took for the floor play a key role in the Eagles' success.
The first half was a see-saw battle with the Eagles shooting 40.7 percent and the Wildcats shooting 41.9 percent from the field and neither team leading by more than four points in the half. Eric Lorenzi was responsible for all of the Eagles' offense in the opening portion of the game, scoring ERAU's first eight points of the contest. The senior scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the first half to help the Eagles to a 33-31 lead at the break.
Head coach Steve Ridder's halftime talk struck a chord with the visiting Eagles as an inspired Embry-Riddle team emerged from the locker room after the half time break. ERAU wasted little time getting on the board in the second frame as Blake Touchard nailed his only three pointer of the night just 12 seconds into the half.
The Eagles stepped up the level on the defensive end, forcing three Johnson & Wales turnovers on their first three possessions of the frame. That defensive intensity coupled with three made baskets in four tries increased the Eagle advantage to 10 points (41-31) with 18:22 left to play.
With a very vocal bench behind them, the Eagles did not surrender a single point to the Wildcats until the 15:50 mark when Matthew Stanley hit a jumper to make the score 43-33. While Stanley's basket ended a four-minute scoring drought, it did not diminish the Eagles' intensity. As the Wildcats struggled to find the offense that served them well in the first half, the Eagles continued to come up with big defensive plays and knocked down key shots. Perhaps the offensive highlight of the game was David Butler knocking down his first three-point basket of the year to extend the Eagle lead to 15 with 12:33 remaining in the game.
The Eagles played stifling defense in the second half, limiting the Wildcats to just seven made shots in 27 attempts. In addition, ERAU limited Johnson & Wales leading scorer, Stephen Nosworthy (14.5 points per game) to just eight points in 31 minutes.
Embry-Riddle was 14-of-29 (48.6 percent) from the field in the second half, including a 4-for-7 clip from beyond the arc. Lorenzi led all scorers with 24 points, while Butler added 19 points off the bench. Touchard, Danny Krazit and Brandon Caputo each contributed four assists, with Touchard collecting five steals with no turnovers in 27 minutes of play.
The Eagles also received solid minutes from Ryan Christian who finished with seven boards, six of which were on the offensive end of the floor. Butler and Lorenzi also grabbed seven rebounds apiece.
The Eagles travel to West Palm Beach on Saturday where they will face third-ranked Northwood at 7 p.m.
