DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Six players scored in double-figures led by a double-double from freshman
DeForest Carter (12 points, 10 assists) as the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team knocked off NCAA III Mary Washington, 85-75 in the finale of the Land of Magic Classic. With the win, the Eagles have won four straight and improve to 8-5 on the season, while UMW falls to 8-4.
The Blue and Gold jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead on three-point field goals from
Jason Powell and
Daniel Mondragon in each of ERAU's first two possessions. Mary Washington battled back with an 8-0 run over a 2:15 span capped by five straight points from sophomore Bradley Reister to gain an 11-8 lead.
Embry-Riddle continued to shoot the three-ball well as back-to-back triples from
Blake Touchard and Mondragon quickly gave ERAU back the lead (14-11) with 12:13 left in the first half. After UMW retook the lead, 16-14, the Eagles rattled off 12 straight points, holding Mary Washington scoreless for nearly four-and-a-half minutes in taking a 26-16 lead with 6:13 to play in the half. UWM cut the deficit to five in late in the half but a dunk from junior
Sam Ford in the closing seconds gave ERAU a 35-28 lead at the break.
Mary Washington battled early in the second half, chipping away at the Eagles' lead for the first five minutes to pull within two points (46-44) with 15:11 remaining in the game. Embry-Riddle responded to the challenge with seven points in 58 seconds, reestablishing a nine-point lead (53-44).
Another dunk from Ford pushed the margin to 16 points (62-46) with just over 10 minutes to play and a fast-break layup by Carter increased the lead to 69-49 with 7:52 left in the game. UWM wasn't able to pull any closer than nine points (76-67) for the rest of the contest as Embry-Riddle cruised to an 85-75 victory.
Touchard led the Eagles with 15 points to go along with seven assists and just one turnover. Carter tallied 12 points and six rebounds in addition to game-highs in assists (10), blocks (3) and steals (2).
Billy Serle added 11 points in 14 minutes off the bench while
Ray Graham,
Jeremiah Applin and Mondragon each contributed 10 points.
Cesar Pastrana collected a game-high eight rebounds in 12 minutes of action.
Ryan Farrar led all scorers with 21 points including 6-of-10 from behind the arc in the losing effort for UWM. Reister added 17 points and Walt Smith registered 10 points.
The Eagles will look to extend their season-long winning streak to five games when they take on Central Christian (Kan.) on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Bahama House/Best Western Aku Tiki Classic.
