DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The sixth-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team suffered its first conference loss of the 2009-10 campaign, falling to St. Thomas 80-70 on Saturday. The Eagles are now 17-4 on the year and 6-1 in league play, while the defending conference tournament champion St. Thomas moves to 7-10 overall and 3-4 in The Sun Conference.

Both teams were about equal from long range with the Eagles connecting on 41.2 percent of their three-pointers and the Bobcats shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc. St. Thomas, however, held a decisive advantage in field goal percentage, hitting 54.2 percent of their shots from the field to the Eagles' 39 percent. The Bobcats also got the job done at the charity stripe converting on 22 of 28 (78.6 percent) free throws, while the Eagles managed only 68 percent (17-of-25).

The first two minutes of the first half belonged to the Bobcats who jumped ahead by five points on baskets by Preston Jackson and Antonio Jones and a three-pointer by Kristaps Brencans. Blake Touchard pulled the Eagles within two on a three-pointer but St. Thomas came back with six straight points to extend the margin to 13-5 and maintained a six-point lead until Glenn Dalcourt's trey tied the game at 18-18 with 9:58 remaining in the half.

A pair David Butler free throws gave the Eagles their first lead of the ballgame, the Bobcats moved ahead by one point on the next possession and both teams traded baskets over the next nine minutes which saw four ties and seven lead changes. A 7-3 Eagle run over the last 2:16 erased a five-point deficit and gave the Eagles a one-point lead at 42-41 at the half.

St. Thomas quickly pulled out in front in the second half and maintained a three-point lead on average for the majority of the half, which featured five ties. At the 5:32 mark, Touchard registered the ninth tie of the night (65-65), but a pair of free throws and a jumper by Antonio Jones on the next two Bobcat possessions put the visitors back up by four.

Butler knocked down a pair of free throws for the Blue and Gold and then rebounded a Brencans miss on the Bobcats next trip down the floor, giving the Eagles an opportunity to draw even once again. The Eagles got the ball to Eric Lorenzi who hit a short-range jump shot, but the basket was waved off due to a controversial offensive foul that was called on Butler. Following the foul, Jones took the ball down the court and drained his only three of the evening to put the Bobcats up by five.

Following that swing, the Eagles appeared unable to find their rhythm and converted on only one of their seven shot attempts in the last 1:20 to give St. Thomas the 10-point win.

Jones finished with a game-high 22 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 performance from the free throw line to go with five assists and Preston Jackson added 17 points and six rebounds.

For the fifth game in a row, Lorenzi paced the Eagle offense with 21 points in addition to five boards and two assists. Touchard finished as the only other ERAU player in double figures with 14 and Butler tallied nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

The Eagles will play the first of two road games at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when they travel to southwest Florida to take on Ave Maria.