OPA LOCKA, Fla. -- The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team ended its regular season with a tough 77-74 loss to Sun Conference foe Florida Memorial, Saturday at the Lion's Chester Robinson Center. The Eagles were led by senior Blake Touchard who scored 27 of his 30 points in the second half. ERAU moved to 16-14 on the year and the team's 7-9 Sun Conference record puts them at fifth place in the final league standings.
 
Florida Memorial jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead to start the game. After the Eagles battled back to tie the score at 15-15 at the 13:28 mark, the Lions went back on top by five, but  a layup by DeForest Carter, who scored 11 points in the first half, and another score by Touchard pulled the Eagles back within one (20-19) with 11:26 left in the half.
 
The Lions held a nine-point lead three different times in the first fame and closed out the period on a 6-0 run as four players tallied eight points each to give FMU a 41-30 halftime advantage.
 
After managing just three points in the first half, Touchard came out on fire in the second, draining three three-pointers and a pair of free throws to account for the Eagles' first 11 points of the half and narrow the gap to 44-41 with 17:53 left to play. The Lions managed to withstand the Eagle rally and after holding onto between a seven and nine-point advantage over the next 13 minutes, they extended the cushion to 67-57 with 5:25 remaining.
 
On the next Eagle possession, Touchard was sent to the free throw line and he knocked down both free throws, which triggered a 10-2 run that made it a two-point game (67-65) with 2:18 left on the clock.
 
Trailing by five, the Eagles got a steal, courtesy of Daniel Mondragon who went to the floor to dispossess George Gray. Still on his back, Mondragon completed a pass to Carter who found Ray Graham racing down the floor and the senior finished the layup and went to the free throw line after being fouled on the play. Graham's free throw pulled the Eagles back within two (73-71), but Donovin McClendon returned the favor with two free throws of his own to make the score 75-71 with 22 ticks left on the clock.
 
Following an Eagle miss, the Lions got the ball back to McClendon who added two more to make it a six-point margin with eight seconds remaining. It took just three seconds to get the ball into the hands of Touchard who buried another three-pointer to make the score 77-74.
Mark Rolle went to the free throw line to put the game out of reach but missed both free throw attempts, giving the ball back to ERAU with 1.9 seconds left and a chance at a tie. The Eagles attempted a football-type pass to get the ball down the length of the court, but Gray intercepted the pass to secure the FMU win.
 
Graham finished with 19 points, followed by Carter with 11. Cesar Pastrana led the Blue and Gold on the boards with a season-high 12 rebounds, while Mondragon finished as the Eagles' assist leader with six.
 
The Lions, who improved to 6-21 overall and 3-13 in the league, had five players in double digits, including McClendon (18), Gray (14), Mark Rolle (13), Matthew Rolle (12) and Bryan Portillo (11).
 
As a result of their conference finish, the Eagles will face fourth-seeded Southeastern in the first round of the 2012 Sun Conference Men's Basketball Tournament presented by Olympus Insurance Company. The Blue and Gold begins the postseason at 7 p.m. on Tuesday when they travel to Lakeland for their third match-up against the Fire.