NORTH MIAMI, Fla. - The NAIA II No. 4 Embry-Riddle Eagles extended their winning streak to 14 with a solid 81-71 win on the road against Sun Conference foe Johnson & Wales on Saturday night. The Eagles improve to 16-1 overall and 3-0 in league play while the Wildcats slip to 9-7 and 1-3.
Embry-Riddle jumped out to an early 7-0 lead thanks to five points from
Jason Powell, including a three ball at the 18:29 mark that gave the visitors a 7-0 advantage. However, the Wildcats answered with a 7-0 run of their own to tie it up at 7-7.
Johnson & Wales took its first lead of the game with a three-pointer from Jumaoke Smith with a little over 11 minutes remaining in the half to give his team a 17-14 lead.
Neither team could separate from the other as JWU had a small cushion for most of the first period until the Eagles got back-to-back layups from
Brandon Serle to knot the score at 31-31 with 3:52 left in the first.
Embry-Riddle outscored the Wildcats 8-1 the rest of the half to take an eight-point lead into the break with
DeForest Carter scoring six of the Eagles' eight points to close out the half.
Embry-Riddle shot 46 percent from the floor in the first, but just 17 percent (2-for-12) from beyond the arc.
Daniel Mondragon picked up three fouls in the opening period and sat for the majority of the half while
Cesar Pastrana,
Rico Saldana and Powell each picked up a pair of fouls for the Blue and Gold.
The second half was controlled by the Eagles in the early-going as a Powell free throw extended the Eagle lead to 10 at the 15:37 mark of the second half.
Embry-Riddle was able to maintain a cumfortable cushion thanks to the inside play of the Eagles' big men, and although the Wildcats were able to get within five points on a number of occassions, the Eagles were always able to answer in the point.
Carter hit a trey with seven minutes on the clock to push ERAU's lead to double-digits at 68-58 before a 7-1 run by the Eagles broke the game open for the visitors and secured the 14th straight win for the Blue and Gold.
Some long range makes by JWU kept a glimmer of hope alive, but the Eagles never allowed the hosts within 10 the rest of the way and came away with the 81-71 decision.
Embry-Riddle dominated inside, grabbing 48 rebounds to the Wildcats' 35 and owned a 40-16 advantage in points in the paint.
Powell led the Eagles for the third straight game, matching a career-high with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Carter recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists while both Pastrana and Saldana added nine points and grabbed double-digit boards.
Daniel Kiesling finished with a career-high 13 points for Embry-Riddle.
The Eagles return home to take on Southeastern on Jan.9 in the ICI Center. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
