MIAMI, Fla. – Blake Touchard tallied a game-high 19 points and eight assists to lead the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team to a 78-64 victory over St. Thomas in Sun Conference play on Saturday. Touchard scored the majority of his points from the charity stripe where he was 11-for-15 as the Eagles improved their overall record to 24-4 and 11-3 in conference play.

The Bobcats scored the first points of the game and although the Eagles were able to tie the score five times in the first 10 minutes, St. Thomas stayed ahead for the majority of the first half. At the 9:32 mark Brett Rawlings' three-pointer gave ERAU its first lead (20-17), but the Bobcats came right back to tie the score  and after forcing an Eagle turnover, the home team reclaimed the lead and extended the advantage to five points (27-22) with 6:02 remaining in the first half.

At the 5:56 mark, Touchard knocked down two free throws and the Eagles recorded defensive stops with a block and a forced turnover on the next two Bobcat possessions to move back in front 28-27.

After St. Thomas tied things up for the seventh time in the half, the Bobcats were able to build their cushion back up to four (34-30), but the Eagles bounced back again as a lay-up by Ray Graham and a three by Touchard put the Eagles up by two. Glenn Dalcourt then connected on one of his four treys to give the Blue and Gold a 39-34 lead at the half.

The long-range shot proved to be key for the Eagles coming out of the break as two threes by Dalcourt and another by Brandon Caputo helped ERAU to extend the lead to 10 points with 14:59 left to play. The Eagles also stepped up their defense and stifled a Bobcat offense that shot 48 percent from the field in the first half, limiting STU to just 24.3 percent in the second.  Those two factors helped ERAU increase the cushion to 19 points (63-44) with 9:30 left to play.

However, the Bobcats used their home court advantage and strong defensive pressure of their own to work its way back into the game. At the 9:24 mark, Jeffrey Remington hit a jumper and that was the start of a three-minute, 10- 0 run that saw the Eagles' lead dwindle to nine points.  The Eagles faced an additional disadvantage when both David Butler and Brett Rawlings fouled out of the game, leaving the team without a strong presence on the inside.

Despite the disadvantage, the Eagles managed to maintain their composure and withstand the Bobcat rally. A lay-up and a free throw helped ERAU build its lead back up to 12, but once again St. Thomas was able to cut the advantage to single digits and a pair of free throws by Demetris Love made the score 68-60 with 2:45 remaining.

On the next Eagle possession, Touchard got the ball back out Dalcourt and the senior drained his fourth three of the night to put the Eagles back up by 11. The Bobcats put forth a valiant effort in the closing minutes, but they were unable to close the gap and Touchard scored the last five points of the contest to seal the win.

Dalcourt finished with 14 points and five assists and Ray Graham added 12 points and seven rebounds to the Eagles' tally. Butler and Rawlings each totaled nine points and eight rebounds with Butler adding six blocks. Leonard was the fifth Eagle scorer in double figures with 10 points.

Love led the way with 15 points for the Bobcats who fall to 14-11 overall and 8-6 in league play.

The Eagles' next game will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when they celebrate Senior Night by hosting conference foe Warner in the final home game of the regular season.