GAMEDAY CENTRAL
#1 Embry-Riddle (10-0 at Our Lady of the Lake (4-5)
DATE: Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013
CITY: San Antonio, Texas
SITE: University Wellness Athletic Center
START: 7:30 p.m. (CST)
SERIES: First Meeting
LIVE STATS: Stretch Internet
LIVE AUDIO: Stretch Internet
LIVE VIDEO: Our Lady of the Lake Athletics
TWITTER: @ERAUMBasketball
TEXT ALERTS: Sign up at erauathletics.com

THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle and OLLU are meeting in men's basketball for the 1st time.
• At 10-0, the Eagles are off to their best start since 2007 when they opened that season with 13 consecutive wins
• Their No. 1 rating marks the 19th time the Eagles have held the top spot in the NAIA II poll.
• Saturday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 813th career game. He is 590-222 in 25 seasons with the Eagle basketball progam.

THE EAGLES
The top-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team improved to 10-0 on the year by downing then-eighth-ranked Northwood on the Seahawks' home floor, 70-68 last Thursday. The Eagles got a three from DeForest Carter with nine seconds on the clock before NU turned the ball over and was forced to foul Reed Ridder who hit both his free throws before a late three from NU accounted for the final.

Embry-Riddle is scoring 82.4 points per game while holding opponents to 61.6 per contest. Before Thursday's game against Northwood, ERAU had not been within 10 points of any opponent when the final horn sounded, and is averaging victories by 20.8 points. The Blue and Gold manages 49-percent from the field and the Eagle defense is statistically the best in NAIA II at 36-percent.

ERAU is outrebounding its opponents by nearly 10 per contest and has doubled the number of assists against opponents at 188-96.

Carter paces the Eagles in numerous categories, including points (14.3), assists (7.1), steals (2.7) and blocks (1.8), while the rest of the Eagle starters are all scoring in double-figures. Freshman Dalton Barnes scores 13.0 points per game and pulls down 5.5 rebounds, while Rico Saldana's 11.1 points and 6.6 rebounds rank third and first respectively on the team.

SCOUTING OUR LADY OF THE LAKE
Ryan Wall is in his first season at the helm of OLLU, taking over for Russell Vanlandingham on an interim basis. The Saints started the season ranked in the top 25 of the NAIA I poll, but a 4-5 start has pushed OLLU out of the rankings. The Saints hold wins over Texas Wesleyan (twice) and Northwood (Texas), as well as a conference victory over University of the Southwest on Thursday night.

Xavier Roberson leads OLLU with 24.4 points per game, connecting on 42 three-point attempts for 49-percent. Dylan Elias chips in 13.4 points per contest, while the Saints average an impressive 93.2 points as a team. OLLU has attempted 344 treys in nine games, shooting 35-percent from long range.

THE ERAU-OLLU SERIES
First-ever meeting between the two squads.

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Heading into his 25th season at the helm of the ERAU men's basketball program, Head Coach Steve Ridder ranks fifth on the NAIA Division II men's basketball winningest active coaches listing. Ridder has 580 wins in 24 seasons as the Eagles' head coach.

1K CLUB - 1,000-Point Club
Junior DeForest Carter is on the verge of becoming the 27th player in Embry-Riddle history to score 1,000 career points. The Big Cypress, Fla. native needs just 13 points to reach the milestone in his third season at ERAU. Carter is already fifth on the all-time assists chart with 455 and seventh in blocked shots with 112.

AS #1
The Eagles are 49-6 all-time as the top-ranked team in the land. Embry-Riddle spent the entire 2000-01 season at No. 1, going 32-4 and went 15-2 in 2006 as the top-ranked squad.

PRESEASON CONFERENCE FAVORITES
The Sun Conference coaches chose Embry-Riddle as the favorite to win the 2013-14 Sun Conference regular season title according to the coaches' poll, which was conducted in October.  The Eagles received75 total points, including four first-place votes, followed by Northwood (72), St. Thomas (70), Southeastern (49) and Warner (47).