Box Score
Coach's Comments

TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. – The third-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team opened its 2013-14 slate with a 94-84 road win over Florida College on Monday. The Eagles were led by junior DeForest Carter who tallied a game-high 22 points and finished just shy of a triple-double with nine rebounds, eight assists, four blocks and four steals.

Freshman Dalton Barnes was impressive in his ERAU debut as he tallied 21 points, six rebounds and two assists. Jason Powell added 19 points, while Cesar Pastrana rounded out the Eagle scorers in doubles figures with 10. As a team, the Eagles shot 63 percent from the field for the game, including a 73.9 percent clip in the second half, and connected on four of their six three-point attempts.

The Eagles jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the contest, but turnovers on three straight possessions allowed the Falcons to draw level at 9-9, prompting ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder to call a timeout. The brief huddle had the desired effect as the Eagles scored nine unanswered points to double up the home team 18-9 with 11:10 left in the first half.

Florida College managed to close the gap to three points (18-15) with 9:33 remaining, but the Eagles built the lead back up to as many as 13 points before heading into the locker room leading 40-30 at the half.

The first 10 minutes of the second frame saw the Blue and Gold maintain an eight-point advantage on average and they still led by nine (78-69) with 6:27 left in the contest. However, back-to-back layups by Kimball Hubbard and Daniel Franklin pulled the Falcons within five (78-73) less than a minute later.

The Eagles built their lead back to double digits (86-75) with under two minutes left, but the Falcons continued to battle and back-to-back three-pointers by Sir Reynolds made the score 90-84 with 27 seconds showing on the clock.

From that point, the Falcons strategy was to foul the Eagles who struggled from the charity stripe early on, shooting just 59.3 percent midway through the second half. The Eagles responded by stepping it up down the stretch, keyed by the freshman Barnes, who led all players with 11 made free throws in the game. Powell, who scored the Eagles' last six points, knocked down four straight free throws to go with two big defensive rebounds in the closing seconds to seal the victory for ERAU.

AJ Williams matched his scoring average from his last three games with 18 points to lead the Falcons who move to 3-1 on the year.

The Eagles will play their first home game of the season at the ICI Center at 7 p.m. on Saturday when they host Coastal Georgia as part of ERAU's 2013 Homecoming activities.