DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Senior Blake Touchard posted his third 20-point performance of the season, tallying 29 points to lead the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team past Central Christian, 90-71, on the first day of the 2012 Bahama House Classic on Tuesday. Touchard, who scored 19 points in the second frame alone, was a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes of play (6-of-9 for the game) as ERAU improved its overall record to 9-5 on the year.

Touchard had a solid outing all-around, recording five steals, five rebounds and a game-high five assists in 26 minutes of action. The Eagles also received double-digit scoring performances from Ray Graham and Jeremiah Applin with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Graham led the Eagles on the boards with eight rebounds, while DeForest Carter matched Touchard's five assists to go with six points, four rebounds and two steals.

The first half featured nearly identical first half performances by both sides. Both teams connected on three of the their three-point chances and each team tallied seven offensive and 13 defensive rebounds for 20 total rebounds apiece. The Tigers made one more field goal (11) than the Eagles (10), but the main difference between the squads was at the free throw line where the Eagles were 13-of-16, while the Tigers were just 6-of-9.

Central Christian built a five-point lead early in the first half, but ERAU quickly erased the deficit, forcing three consecutive Tiger turnovers to claim a 17-14 advantage with 11:44 left in the half. Robert Walker scored two of his five first-half points to pull CCC within one (17-16) at the 11:10 mark, but a layup by Cesar Pastrana sparked a 13-4 run that afforded the Eagles their biggest lead (30-21) of the half.

The Tigers responded by putting together a run of their own late in the half and by the intermission, the Eagle lead was cut to five points, 36-31.

In what might have been a predictor of how the second half would go, Touchard scored the first points of the second stanza to put the Eagles up by seven (38-31). The Tigers stayed within six points of the Eagles until Touchard's third trey of the night extended the Eagle advantage to nine. That long-range shot set the tone for the rest of the period for ERAU who shot 53.3 percent (8-of-15) in the second half.

The Eagles steadily continued to build on the lead and midway through the half, Touchard hit his stride. Recognizing that he had the hot hand, Touchard's teammates got the ball out to him on the perimeter and the senior guard did not disappoint, draining the three-point shot on three consecutive possessions to widen the gap to 18 points (70-52). The Eagles continued to pour on the offense and with 2:58 remaining, the margin had swelled to 28 points (88-60).

The Eagles also got great production from the bench as their reserves outscored the Tiger players off the bench 21-7 in the final 20 minutes. ERAU shot 52.9 percent from the field and held the Tigers to just 13 made baskets in the second half to take the 19-point win.

Central Christian also had three players in double figures, including Chris Jones (18), Randall Conley (16) and Michael Lyons (15). The loss puts the Tigers at 9-4 on the year.

The Eagles close out play in the Bahama House Classic at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when they take on NAIA Division I foe Voorhees. Voorhees also posted a win on Tuesday, topping McKendree 84-79 in the opening game of the tournament.