BABSON PARK, Fla. – The 11th-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team extended its lead in The Sun Conference regular season race to two games with a 71-58 victory over Webber International on Saturday. The match-up between the top two teams in the league promised to be a good one and it did not disappoint as the Eagles handed the Warriors their first home loss of the year to improve to 19-4 on the year and 8-1 in league play.
The Warriors jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the game, but the Eagles caught up quickly and tied the score at 6-6 in the first half, which featured five ties and seven lead changes. After tying the score at 10-10 with 14:49 to go in the first half, the Warriors went ahead by three, but once again the Eagles answered the challenge and an
Eric Lorenzi three-pointer started a 6-0 Eagle run to give the Blue and Gold its largest lead of the half at 21-15 with 10:22 left in the frame.
Webber International head coach John Shoffner called a 30-second timeout to settle his team and the Warriors responded by rattling off ten unanswered points to reclaim a four-point advantage at the 4:58 mark. After turning the ball over on five straight possessions, the Eagles settle down and connected on five of their last eight attempts of the half and went into the locker room with a 33-30 lead.
Whatever ERAU head coach
Steve Ridder said to his team during the intermission provided the motivation the Eagles needed for a strong start in the second half. The Eagles outscored the Warriors 11-3 in the first five minutes to extend the advantage to 11 points (44-33). WIU's leading scorer, Junior Geidi, hit a three to pull the Warriors within seven at the 13:35 mark, but that was as close as the Eagles would allow them to get.
Over the next eight minutes, the Eagle defense limited the Warriors to just 14.3 percent shooting from the field, while the offense continued to pour on the points, outscoring the home team 18-5 for their largest lead of the night of 20 points (64-44) with 5:49 remaining in the game.
"This is the best we've ever played in this building," Embry-Riddle head coach
Steve Ridder said about the Eagles' first game of the season at WIU's Sabbagh Athletic Center. "Defense has always been a staple of our program and tonight I think we had maybe our best overall defensive effort of the year, certainly our best in this building. They worked hard and played tough and I couldn't be more proud of our guys tonight."
The Eagles got a solid all-around effort as eight of the nine players that took the floor scored at least two points and all nine players had at least two rebounds each. Lorenzi, finished as the game's leading scorer and rebounder with 22 points and 12 boards.
David Butler tallied 18 points, five boards, three blocks and three assists in 26 minutes off the bench, while
Ray Graham added 15 points and seven rebounds to the Eagle effort.
The Eagle defense had the greatest impact on the Warriors' two leading scorers Junior Geidi (16 ppg) and Halston Schaffer (15 ppg). Geidi managed just nine points on 3-of-18 shooting, while Schaffer, who didn't score a single point in the second half until the final minute, scored just 11 points. Tyrell Harper was the leading scorer with 12 for the Warriors who are now 12-8 overall and 6-3 in the league.
The Eagles' next game will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday when they host Johnson & Wales at the ICI Center.
