DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The seventh-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team (27-4) earned a spot in its seventh straight conference tournament semifinal with a win Tuesday night at the ICI Center. The Eagles, seeded No. 2 in the nine-team tournament, hit the century mark for the second time this season, topping seventh-seeded Ave Maria, 100-62, in the quarterfinal round of the 2011 Sun Conference Tournament. Embry-Riddle enjoyed its second best shooting night of the season, making 36-of-61 field goals for a 59 percent shooting clip on the way to matching its highest offensive output so far this year.

The Eagles received a balanced effort as 12 of the 13 players that took the floor got their names in the scoring column and five of those individuals scored in double digits. Brett Rawlings and Blake Touchard each had 15 points and Rawlings led all players with nine rebounds. Danny Krazit had his best offensive night of the year with season-highs in points (9) and assists (8) to go with two steals and two boards. Jarod Leonard, David Butler and Glenn Dalcourt tallied 11 points apiece and Butler capped off his performance with six blocks and seven rebounds.

The Eagles scored the first points of the contest and never looked back. With 14:44 left in the first half, the Eagles were ahead 12-8. Over the next six minutes, ERAU went on a 20-5 run, highlighted by three-pointers from Touchard (2), Leonard and Rawlings, and widened the gap to 19 (32-13) with 8:10 to go in the half.

Krazit's three at the 5:38 mark made it a 20-point (39-19) game, but over the next minute and a half, Ave Maria's Marc Rozanski and Jimmy Torney combined for eight points to just one by the Eagles to pull the Gyrenes back within 13 (40-27). Touchard hit a three to end the rally at the 3:52 mark and at the half, the Eagles were leading by 21 (52-32).

In the second half, the Gyrenes shot 48 percent from the field, but they were only 2-of-5 from beyond the arc and 4-of-7 from the charity stripe. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles who shot 57.1 percent from the field, made eight of their 16 three-point attempts in the half. They also took care of the ball during the game, registering just six turnovers while forcing 18 Gyrene miscues and converting them into 29 points.

One of the highlights of the evening was the return of Will Benjamin to the Eagle line-up. Benjamin, who had not seen any action since the passing of his father two weeks ago, entered the game with just over six minutes remaining in the contest to the appreciative applause of the 555 fans in attendance. In somewhat poetic fashion, the senior, who averages 44 percent in free throws this season, stepped up to the line and knocked down two free throws in a row to give the Blue and Gold its 99th and 100th points.

Torney and Rozanski were the high scorers for Ave Maria, finishing with 20 points and 14 points, respectively. Torney also led the way on the boards with eight as the Gyrenes close out the year at 14-16 overall.

The Eagles will travel to West Palm Beach this weekend for the Sun Conference tournament Final Four which is being hosted by top-seed and NAIA top-ranked Northwood. The Eagles will face No. 6 seed Warner in the first semifinal, beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday. Warner upset No. 3 St. Thomas 66-62 in the quarterfinals to earn their spot in the Final Four. The other semifinal will see #4 seed Florida Memorial take on top-seed Northwood beginning at 7 p.m.