DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Senior Blake Touchard recorded a career-high 32 points on Saturday night, but it was not enough to get the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team by Olivet Nazarene as the Eagles fell to the Tigers 88-83 in the championship game of the Daytona Mitsubishi Shootout. The Eagles shot 51.9 percent for the game, including a 58.6 percent (17-29) clip in the second half, but ONU's 18 field goals in the first half compared to 11 by the Eagles, proved to be the difference as the Blue and Gold fell to 4-2, while the Tigers improved to 4-1.

The scoring started with a three-point basket by Touchard, but the Tigers answered immediately with a pair of jumpers and a free throw to take a 5-3 lead. Ray Graham tied things up for the Eagles at the 17:39 mark, but once again ONU had an answer and a three-pointer by Ben Worner sparked a 13-0 run over the next three minutes that gave the Tigers a 20-7 lead.

The Tigers, who shot 52.9 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, maintained a double-digit advantage until the midway point of the first half. With 9:25 left in the frame, Touchard hit back-to-back free throws to pull the Eagles within eight (30-22). A trey by Billy Serle and a lay-up by DeForest Carter made it a three-point game  (30-27), but the Tigers, paced by nine points each from Hasselbring and Antonio Marshall, quickly built the lead back up to 13 points and took a 44-35 cushion into the intermission.

Early in the second stanza, the Eagles went on another run, outscoring the Tigers 13-5 to cut the lead to four (15:40) with 15:40 left to play. ONU was able to withstand the Eagle surge and over the next seven and a half minutes, the Tigers bested ERAU 24-12 and extended the cushion to 16 points (76-60).

Despite the deficit, the Eagles continued to battle and their tenacity paid off as they began to chip away at the lead. Graham started the rally with a lay-up and a free throw and after five straight Eagle trips to the free throw line made it a nine-point (76-65) game, ONU head coach Ralph Hodge called a timeout.

The short break slowed the Eagles momentarily and allowed the Tigers to go back up by 13 (80-67), but the Blue and Gold refused to give up and steadily cut into the lead once again. The Eagle defense forced turnovers on seven of ONU's next 13 possessions and the offense countered by connecting on six of their next eight shots to make it a four-point game with 1:04 remaining.

Following a Graham lay-up, Carter forced Ben Worner to cough up the basketball, but the Eagles were unable to convert the miscue into points as a three-point attempt missed the mark and was rebounded by ONU's Jake Boyce, giving the ball back to the Tigers with 41 seconds left. The Eagles then resorted to fouling in the closing seconds, but ONU was up to the challenge as Marshall went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the last 34 seconds to seal the win.

Touchard was 11-of-20 from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line to go with two assists and six rebounds. Graham also made all seven of his free throw attempts to finish with 25 points.

Marshall was the leading scorer for ONU with 23 points. The Tigers had four players score in double figures, including Worner (15), Boyce (14) and Hasselbring (13).

Marshall was named the tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates Boyce and Worner, along with ERAU's Graham and Touchard and Warner Pacific's Sean Gaines.
 
The Eagles will travel to California for a pair of games during the Thanksgiving break. ERAU will take on Cal State San Marcos on Wednesday and Azusa Pacific on Friday. Both games are slated for 7:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.