DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A strong team shooting performance lifted the fourth-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team to a 96-75 victory over Baruch (6-4) on the first day of the Bahama House/Best Western Aku Tiki Shootout, Saturday at the ICI Center. The Eagles connected on 41 of their 64 attempts from the field to improve their overall record to 12-1 on the year.

The Embry-Riddle offense was firing on all cylinders in the first half, shooting a blistering 63.9 percent (21-33) from the floor. Jarod Leonard paced the Eagles, coming off the bench to tally 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in the first frame. David Butler added nine points, five boards and three blocks, while Blake Touchard added four assists and two steals to the Eagles' 48-point first half.

The Bearcats scored on three of their first four possessions down the floor to take an 8-4 lead in the first three minutes of play. The Eagles responded with a 7-2 run and claimed at one-point (11-10) lead with 15:19 left in the half. ERAU extended its lead to five points, but the Bearcats, who shot 50 percent (4-8) from beyond the arc in the first half, tied things up at 19-19 on a long range shot by Lionel Hilaire (20 pts, 7 asts) at the 9:57 mark.

On the following possession, Touchard lobbed a pass into Butler and Butler's dunk ignited a 10-0 Eagle run that forced Baruch head coach, Ray Rankis to call a timeout.  The adjustments Rankis made to his game plan allowed the Bearcats to cut the ERAU lead to five, but the Eagles went on a 16-0 in the final seven minutes to take a commanding 48-31 halftime lead.
 
In the second half, Baruch shot 38.9 percent (7-18) from long range and 60 percent from the free throw line. Those numbers sharply contrasted those put up by the Eagles who made only two of eight three-pointers and six of 12 free throws. Embry-Riddle more than made up for those shortcomings, however, as they shot 64.5 percent (20-31) from the field and bested the Bearcats 20-12 on the boards. The Eagles also made the most of their second chances, outscoring Baruch 20-8 in that category.

Baruch managed to make it a 14-point game thanks to a three and two free throws by Chris Beauchamp (16 points) at the start of the second half. The Bearcats were 14-of-30 and scored 44 points in the second half, but they were unable to overcome the first-half deficit, suffering their fourth loss of the year.

The Eagles received a balanced scoring performance as all 11 players who got on the floor scored at least three points. Butler finished with 23 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two assists, while Touchard finished with 14 points and five assists. Leonard and Brett Rawlings anchored the Eagles' bench performance as Leonard tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Rawlings turned in a 12-point, six-rebound, three-assist outing.

The Eagles will play their final tune-up before resuming conference play at 4 p.m. on Sunday when they close out the Bahama House/Best Western Aku Tiki Shootout against William Carey.