DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Senior David Butler registered his ninth double-double of the season to lead the sixth-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team to an 82-54 victory over Johnson & Wales in Sun Conference play, Friday at the ICI Center. Butler totaled 22 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and three steals in 27 minutes of play as the Eagles improved their overall record to 21-2 and their league mark to 9-1.

As was the case when the Eagles faced the Wildcats earlier this season (Jan. 8), the game was a low-scoring affair to start as both teams combined for just 19 points with under 10 minutes to play in the first half. The Eagles accounted for the majority of the scoring in the half as they held a 21-3 lead at the 8:18 mark.

In the first 20 minutes of play, Johnson & Wales took 32 shots to the Eagles' 30, but a swarming ERAU defense , that recorded four blocks and outdid the Wildcats 22-13 on the defensive boards, wreaked havoc on the Wildcats' shot selection and limited the visitors to just five made baskets and 17 points in the first half. Meanwhile, Butler, who was responsible for all four blocks, paced the ERAU offense with 14 points as the Eagles shot 50 percent from the field to take a 34-17 halftime lead.

Johnson & Wales significantly improved its shooting in the second stanza, connecting on 15 of 37 (45 percent) shots for 37 second-half points. The effort was not enough to catch the Eagles, however, as ERAU matched its 50 percent (15-of-30) shooting from the first half and improved to 60 percent  (6-of-10) from beyond the arc with four of the six long-range shots coming from Glenn Dalcourt.

Dalcourt finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Ray Graham completed the list of Eagle players with double-digit scoring with 13 points.

Craig Wong was the leading scorer for the Wildcats, converting on 6-of-17 attempts, including four three-pointers, to finish with 17 points. Alex Blue tallied 12 points and Myles Smith finished with 11 as Johnson & Wales falls to 5-16 on the year and 1-9 in conference play.

The next game at the ICI Center will be at 7 p.m. on Monday and will be a battle between two Top 10 NAIA Division II teams as the sixth-ranked Eagles host No. 2 Northwood.