JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team stepped outside of conference play to take on former conference foe Edward Waters on the road on Saturday and came away from the Tigers' Adams-Jenkins Sports Complex with an 81-78 win overtime in one of the Eagles' most exciting games of the season. Playing in a very physical contest, the Eagles battled back from being 22 points down with 13:45 left in the second half to improve their overall record to 23-3 on the year.
Feeding off the energy of a lively, vocal home crowd, the Tigers scored the first four points of the ballgame and did not relinquish lead until the overtime session. The Eagles managed to pull within one (25-24) with 7:51 left in the half, but the Edward Waters defense responded by forcing back-to-back turnovers and capitalized on a 15-5 run to build the lead up to 10 points (40-30) at the 1:29 mark. The Tigers were 55.6 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from long range and 10-of-11 from the free throw line in the first stanza and at the half they held a commanding 44-32 lead over the fifth-ranked Eagles.
The Eagles, who managed just nine baskets and two three-pointers in the first frame, continued to struggle in the second. The Blue and Gold was unsuccessful in its first six offensive sets and it wasn't until Glenn Dalcourt's three at the 17:11 mark that they were able to get on the scoreboard in the second period. Meanwhile, the Tigers continued to shoot the ball well and their offense, coupled with a pesky defense, helped the home team extend its advantage to 59-37 with 13:45 left to play.
The Johnny Nelson tip-in that gave the Tigers that 22-point lead, prompted ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder to call a timeout to rally his troops. Coming out of the huddle, Dalcourt sank another three and that was the start of the Eagle comeback as they scored seven unanswered, prompting Tiger coach Anthony Mosley to burn a timeout of his own.
Following another Tiger lay-up that made the score 61-44 at the 10:52 mark, the Eagles steadily chipped away at the lead, forcing two turnovers and outscoring Edward Waters 12-5 over the next five minutes to make it a 10-point game. The momentum that was with the Tigers throughout the majority of the game slowly started to swing to the other end of the court.
At the 5:33 mark, Brandon Caputo pulled down a Tiger miss and raced to the other end of the floor where he was fouled as he completed the unassisted lay-up and made the resulting free throw to make the score 66-59. The Eagles forced a turnover on the Tigers' next possession and a foul at the 4:26 mark sent Blake Touchard to the free throw line. The junior made both free throws to make it a five point game.
With renewed determination, the Eagles set about the task of getting a stop on the defensive end of the floor, and David Butler provided just that with one of his three blocks of the night to give the ball back to ERAU. Touchard's short-range jump shot bounced off the rim, but Jarod Leonard battled for the rebound among three EWC players and his lay-up cut the Tiger lead to three (66-63) with 3:40 left to play.
An Eagle turnover and a pair of missed field goals allowed the Tigers to go back up by four, but with 53 seconds left in regulation, Touchard curled toward the basket and then passed the ball back out to Dalcourt who drained his third three of the night to make it a one-point game (70-69). Two free throws by Byron Shemwell made the score 72-69 in favor of the Tigers and left the Eagles with 19 seconds to make something happen. Touchard reclaimed the ball-handling duties and tried to create a play for his teammates, but a screen by Rawlings gave Touchard an open look from beyond the arc and he nailed the long range shot with four seconds to play to tie the score at 72-72 and send the game into overtime.
A three-pointer by Brett Rawlings got things started for the Eagles who scored the first five points of the overtime period. Edward Waters came back with four unanswered points of their own, making the score 77-76 in favor of the Eagles with 2:35 remaining. Over the next two minutes, both teams registered multiple turnovers and failed to convert on their shot attempts, but with 28 seconds left, Touchard was fouled and broke the mini-drought by making one of two free throws. Down by two, the Tigers opted to go for the tie rather than the win and got what they needed from Jason Hollis whose tip-in knotted the score at 78-78.
With 8.5 seconds remaining, Touchard took the ball up the court. As he left his feet for a shot attempt just inside the arc, the defense collapsed on him, but Touchard managed to kick the ball out to Rawlings at the top of the circle and the senior ended the overtime period just as he started it; with a made three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to give the Eagles the win.
Touchard led all scorers with 19 points, six steals, four assists and four rebounds, while Rawlings finished with 17 points and five boards. Butler got his 10th double-double of the year on 18-points and a career-high 19 rebounds, and Dalcourt completed the list of Eagle scorers in double figures with 11 points and four assists.
William Walter-Brown finished with 18 points and six rebounds for the Tigers who drop to 8-15 with the loss. The Tigers also got double-digit scoring effort from Shemwell (16 points) and Charles Evans (10 points, 10 rebounds).
The Eagles resume conference play at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when they travel to south Florida to take on Sun Conference opponent Florida Memorial.
