WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - On Dec. 1, the Embry-Riddle Eagles made 26 of their 28 attempted free throws to knock off the No. 1 team in the country at the time, the Northwood Seahawks, in the first meeting of 2012-13 for The Sun Conference rivals. That 93 percent clip from the charity stripe for the Blue and Gold didn't make the trip to West Palm Beach as the Eagles shot just 10-for-21 in a 65-59 loss at the hands of No. 7 Northwood on Saturday afternoon. Embry-Riddle drops to 18-6 overall and 5-5 in league play while the Seahawks improve to 21-2 and 8-2.
The Eagles trailed by as many as 11 in the second half, but managed to cut the deficit to just two with 21 seconds remaining, but the Seahawks went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe to ice the game and secure the six-point victory.
Embry-Riddle shot 43 percent from the field, but just 28 percent from long range and a dismal 48 percent from the free throw line in the loss. Northwood didn't shoot much better on its home court with a field goal percentage of 46 percent and a three-point percentage of 40 (4-for-10) for the contest.
Despite trailing the entire second half, the Eagles never relented, giving the hosts plenty to worry about, led by
DeForest Carter's near double-double of 23 points and nine rebounds. The Montverde, Fla. native also dished out five assists in the game, most to
Cesar Pastrana as the sophomore from Cartagena, Colombia finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, even though he played with four fouls over the final 12 minutes of regulation.
Ra'Shad James, the leading scorer in the country, scored 22 for the Seahawks, but just six came in the second half. Dan O'Keefe dropped in 16 points for Northwood while Ty Davis assisted on 12 of his team's 26 made field goals.
The Eagles opened the game with a layup from Pastrana, but a 10-3 run by the home team saw the Eagles down 10-5 with just over 15 minutes in the first half.
Carter scored six of the Eagles' next eight points to give his team a two-point cushion at 13-11, but a Tracy Parks trey and James two-point jumper put Northwood ahead 16-13 with 10 minutes left in the period.
The Seahawks enjoyed an eight-point lead when Patrick Horstmann hit a three with 4:22 on the clock, but
Daniel Mondragon answered with the first of his three from downtown to bring the score to 27-22 in favor of the Seahawks.
James hit a three-pointer with 67 ticks on the clock and both teams went scoreless the rest of the half as the hosts took a 33-27 lead into the break.
Northwood was able to maintain a small cushion to begin the second half before expanding its lead to 11 on a Parks fast break layup, but a Mondragon three and a Pastrana layup following a Carter free throw brought the Eagles to within five at 43-38.
The Seahawks battled back and a steal from Davis led to a transition dunk from James that gave Northwood back an 11-point advantage with just eight minutes remaining.
Trailing by double-digits and with just 5:43 on the clock, Carter went to work for the Blue and Gold, scoring five straight to cut the lead to five, and when
Jason Powell hit a three to bring the Eagles to within four at 58-54, the Eagle contingent of fans exploded.
On the next Sehawk possession, a great defensive effort by the Eagles proved to be in vain as Horstmann hit an off-balance three as the shot clock expired and 1:20 showing on the clock to give Northwood a 61-54 lead.
Carter again put on a one-man offensive clinic, scoring five points for the Eagles to cut the deficit to two, but Davis and then James made both of their free throw attempts over the final seconds to allow the Seahawks to survive the comeback bid.
Mondragon was the only other Eagle in double-figures with 12 as he went 3-for-3 from long range and dished out four assists.
Embry-Riddle returns to action on Friday, Feb. 1 as the Eagles host Johnson & Wales in the ICI Center in the Hall of Fame Night game. Tip is set for 7 p.m. The 2014 Volusia County Teacher of the Year will also be recognized at Friday's game.
