DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The third-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball squad used smothering defensive pressure to cruise to a 70-45 win over Truett McConell on Saturday afternoon at the TU Classic presented by State Farm Insurance. The Eagles forced 26 Bear turnovers en route to their fifth straight win, opening the 2013-14 season 5-0, the first time since 2007 the program has started with five victories. TMC drops to 0-4 on the year as only one player reached double-figures offensively.
The Eagles were paced by
Jason Powell's 16 points and six steals while
DeForest Carter chipped in 14 points and five steals.
Carter started the contest by hitting a three just 30 seconds into the game, but it was the Bears that battled to a 6-5 lead on a pair of Kahil Wynn free throws. The one-point deficit marked the only time during the weekend the Eagles trailed.
Cesar Pastrana's layup at the 16:49 mark gave the Blue and Gold the lead for good (8-6), and the Eagles went on an 11-0 run to go up 17-8 on a Carter layup.
Reed Ridder and
Daniel Kiesling registered back-to-back layups with less than nine minutes in th half as the Eagle lead ballooned to 24-12. Powell's trey with 6:35 left gave the Eagles a 13-point margin before ERAU ended the period with a dunk by
Hudson Cadet that gave them a 37-22 edge at the break.
TMC turned the ball over 16 times in the first half, and although they shot 50-percent from the floor, the Bears were only able to attempt 18 shots in the frame while the Blue and Gold scored 21 points off of TMC miscues.
The first seven minutes of the second period were all the Eagles needed to put the Bears away, racing out to a 15-2 run for a 52-24 lead, thanks in part to Carter and Powell who scored 12 of the team's 15 points during that span.
Powell's triple with 10 minutes left pushed the Embry-Riddle advantage to 61-32 and the Eagle lead will grow to its biggest when Cadet converted on a free throw at the 8:48 mark, giving ERAU a 63-32 cushion.
The Eagle bench finished out the game for Embry-Riddle as Kiesling and Cadet scored five points each and
Brandon Serle contributed three to the ERAU cause.
The Eagles outrebounded the Bears 36-33, shooting 41-percent from the field and 50-percent from the free throw line. Embry-Riddle scored 32 points off of turnovers, 14 on fast breaks and the bench scored 17 for Embry-Riddle.
The Daytona Mitsubishi/Kia Shootout awaits the Eagles back in Daytona as Embry-Riddle will take on NAIA preseason No. 20 Tennessee Wesleyan on Friday, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. in the ICI Center.
