Eagles Fall to No. 1 Seahawks in Conference Semis
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team closed out its 2011-12 campaign with an 80-64 loss to top-ranked Northwood in the semifinals of The Sun Conference tournament on Friday at Northwood's Countess de Hoernle Center. The Eagles seeded fifth, went toe-to-toe with the top-seeded Seahawks in the first half, matching the Seahawks scoring output for a 26-26 halftime tie, but Northwood shot 65.5 percent in the second stanza en route to the win and improved to 29-3 on the year, while Eagles finish at 17-15.
In Tuesday's quarterfinal win over Southeastern, seniors
Ray Graham and
Blake Touchard powered the Eagles' offense. On Friday, it was a pair of freshmen who stepped up for the Blue and Gold as
Cesar Pastrana and Sun Conference Freshman of the Year
DeForest Carter tallied 17 points each, with Pastrana recording his first double-digit game on the way to a career high.
Sun Conference Player of the Year Jonathan Dunn was the game's high scorer with 25 as Northwood advanced to the tournament final for the second year in a row.
The Eagles were strong defensively through the first half, holding the Seahawks to just 33.3 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes. Both teams struggled to get their respective offenses going early on as the first point of the night was scored from the free throw line by Northwood's Masse Doumbe three minutes into the contest. Over the first seven minutes of play, both teams combined for just 13 points on the way to the low-scoring halftime deadlock.
The halftime break appeared to be just what each team needed to spark their respective offenses. The Eagles scored from beyond the arc on six of their first 10 possessions in the second half and led 46-42 at the 14:03 mark. The Seahawks converted on six of their first nine shot attempts and with 12:52 left to play, Dunn knocked down a jumper that knotted the score, 46-46.
The Seahawks took advantage of a series of Eagle misses to reclaim a four-point lead, but Touchard knocked down one of his four second-half threes to pull ERAU back within one (50-49) with 11:32 remaining.
Pastrana stuck back a missed free throw to put the Eagles back out in front by one at the 11:03 mark, but on the next trip down the court, the freshman was forced to sit after being called for his fourth foul. The Seahawks took advantage of the Eagles' smaller lineup to go up by six (57-51). The Eagles called a timeout to try a halt the Northwood surge, but the Seahawk players continued to heat up offensively and outscored the Eagles 18-10 over the last 7:34 to take the win and move on to Saturday's' championship game.
The loss marked the end of impressive careers for Graham and Touchard who each graduate as members of ERAU 1,000-point club. Graham, who was a first team All-Conference selection, finished with 1,610 points, which is eighth on the Eagles' all-time scoring list, and is also ERAU fifth highest rebounder of all-time with a career total of 787. In three seasons with the Blue and Gold, Touchard amassed 1,416 points and the Eagles' sixth-best career assist total of 398. He closed out his career as a three-time All-Conference selection after earning second team honors in 2011-12.
