DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A strong shooting performance from long range lifted the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team to a 101-57 victory over Mount Vernon Nazarene, Friday at the ICI Center. The Eagles shot 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from beyond the arc in the first half and were 20-of-29 (69 percent) for the game, just one three shy of the school record set a year ago against Florida College (Nov. 23, 2011), to improve their overall record to 6-5 on the year.

Mount Vernon Nazarene scored the first points of the contest on a three-pointer by Danil Zakhlebnyy and Ben Severns doubled that lead with another three on the Cougars next trip down the court. After two missed shots and a turnover in their first three possessions, the Eagles were finally able to get on the board at the 17:54 mark. Daniel Mondragon, who became the first walk-on in program history to earn a start in a mid-season contest on Friday, took full advantage of the opportunity, connecting on both of his three-point attempts to score six of the Eagles' first nine points of the night.

At the 17:16 mark, a trey by Blake Touchard triggered a 13-1 run that gave the Blue and Gold a 19-7 advantage. A Robbie Taylor three capped a 7-4 MVNU run that allowed the Cougars to pull within seven (23-16) with 7:58 left in the first stanza, but the rest of the half belonged to ERAU. Over the final 6:44, the Eagles connected on 11 of 12 attempts, six of which were of the three-point variety, to take a 51-22 lead into the intermission.

The Eagles were 66.7 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, led by Touchard who had 16 first-half points, including five threes, and Mondragon's career-high nine points. The Blue and Gold were also strong defensively, with a 17-14 rebounding edge and holding the Cougars just 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) shooting from the field.

The second half featured more of the same as the Eagles knocked down another 10 three-pointers and were 18-of-28 from the field. Touchard cooled off, managing only one bucket in the second frame, but Jeremiah Applin picked up where Touchard left off. The junior, who had just five points in the first half, erupted for 18 in the second, including a perfect 6-of-6 performance from beyond the arc.

An aggressive Eagle defense held MVNU to just 13 points in the first 11 and half minutes of the frame and ERAU led by as many as 48 points on the way to the team's first 100-point win of the season.

Applin led all scorers with 23 points followed by Touchard with 19, Ray Graham with 16 and Billy Serle, who was 3-for-5 from behind the three-point line, with 16. DeForest Carter led the Blue and Gold on the boards, while Mondragon was the game's assist leader with a career-best eight dishes.

Marshall Crumm (12 points) and Robbie Taylor (10 points) were the only double-digit scorers for Mount Vernon Nazarene who dropped to 5-8 with the loss. Danil Zakhlebnyy had eight points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Eagles will have a 13-day lay-off to celebrate the Christmas holidays before returning to action at 6 p.m. on Dec. 29 to host Bridgewater State in the Land of Magic Classic.