GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Embry-Riddle at Johnson & Wales
DATE: Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014
CITY: North Miami, Fla.
SITE: Wildcat Center
TIP-OFF: 4 p.m. ET
LIVE STATS: Stretch Internet
LIVE AUDIO: Stretch Internet
ON THE RADIO: WELE 1380 AM
SERIES: ERAU leads, 12-2
LAST MEETING: ERAU 76, JWU 47 - Feb. 1, 2013 - Daytona Beach, Fla.
THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle and Johnson & Wales are meeting in men's basketball for the 15th time.
• The top-ranked Eagles are playing their 62nd game ranked No. 1. Embry-Riddle is 54-7 all-time.
• Saturday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 819th career game.
• The only conference opponent both teams have played is Northwood; the Wildcats lost to the Seahawks (78-73) last Saturday, while the Eagles beat Northwood (70-68) back in December.
THE EAGLES
The Eagles survived an upset bid on Thursday as first-year program Thomas took the No. 1 team in the country down to the wire, falling in the final by a 78-72 margin. Embry-Riddle's six-point win was by far the closest game the Eagles have played at home this season. ERAU improved to 8-0 at home with scoring margins of 34, 31, 30, 27, 22, 22, 21 and 19 before Thursday's victory.
Embry-Riddle still leads the nation in field goal percentage defense at 36-percent and three-point field goal percentage defense at 26-percent. The Eagles also rank second in the country with 19.6 assists per contest and fifth in rebound margin, grabbing an average of 10 more boards per game than opponents.
ERAU's 81.9 points per game average is the second-best mark in the league, trailing only Southeastern's 91.0 ppg average. Blue and Gold opponents average only 62.3 points per game while the Eagles' four TSC opponents have averaged 62.5.
Deforest Carter continues to lead the Eagles with 16.4 points and 6.8 assists per game, also averaging 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. Freshman Dalton Barnes is the other Eagle in double figures for the Eagles at 12.3 points per game. The Port Orange, Fla. native also records 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals per outing for Embry-Riddle.
Cesar Pastrana has registered three double-doubles in 2013-14 and averages 9.8 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Eagles. ERAU's lone senior, Rico Saldana puts up 9.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per contest.
Last Time Out
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The top-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team was given all it could handle on Thursday evening in the ICI Center as the Thomas Night Hawks battled ERAU to the wire, ultimately coming up short as the Eagles claimed a 78-72 win. Embry-Riddle hit 9-of-12 free throws in the final 35 seconds to escape the Night Hawks' upset bid, moving to 15-1 overall and remaining perfect in Sun Conference play at 4-0, the first time since 2009-10 the Eagles have done so. Thomas, despite 32 points from Justyn Watkins, moves to 8-6 overall and 1-3 in TSC action.
Meeting for the first time since 1999 (Thomas had suspended their basketball program following the 1999-00 season before restarting the program this year), the Eagles and Night Hawks came into the game as two of the best defensive field goal percentage teams in the league. However, each team shot well above what the other team usually allows defensively with TU at a 45-percent clip and the Eagles at 52-percent for the game.
The home team came out of the gate quickly, building a 7-0 lead behind a Dalton Barnes layup, Rico Saldana jumper and DeForest Carter three-pointer before the Night Hawks reached the scoreboard on a pair of Watkins free throws at the 17:43 mark.
The Eagles held the lead for most of the first half, going up 21-11 on a Barnes jumper in the paint with 11 minutes on the clock. After four quick points from Watkins, Hudson Cadet scored his only two points of the evening off a feed from Saldana and again the hosts led by double digits at 27-17.
With the Eagles enjoying a 30-20 lead after a Jason Powell triple and 6:21 on the clock, Watkins sparked a 10-0 run for Thomas with a steal and dunk and capped off by Trey Gosier's pull-up jumper to tie the game at 30-30. Cesar Pastrana converted 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to snap the run, but Max Grace's layup with four seconds left in the half gave the Night Hawks a 32-31 advantage at the break.
Carter led the Eagles with 13 points after 20 minutes as ERAU shot 50-percent in the first half, but Watkins' 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 shooting from the free throw line helped TU to the halftime lead.
Saldana swiped a loose ball on the first possession of the second period and Powell made good on the turnover, hitting a trey that gave the Eagles back the lead at 34-32. Barnes and Saldana scored the next six points in the game as the Blue and Gold advantage grew to 40-32, but Thomas responded, cutting the lead to three when Rodney Sturkie nailed a shot from long range with 13 minutes left in regulation.
Trent Madison further dented the Eagle cushion with a layup and Watkins knotted the score with a free throw at the 12:09 mark before giving the Night Hawks the lead at 49-47 with a fastbreak layup.
Embry-Riddle was able to take a slight lead of 58-55 when Daniel Kiesling recorded two of his 13 points on a jumper in the lane with less than eight minutes in the game and followed it up with a three-pointer as the Eagle advantage jumped to six.
Trailing by eight at 67-59 with 3:47 left, TU scored the next seven points to cut the lead to one when Sturkie made a layup with just under two minutes on the clock. Carter was able to back down his defender on the next ERAU possession for a layup and a 69-66 lead, but Fare'al Walker was fouled by Kiesling with 45 seconds left and hit both his shots from the charity stripe to bring Thomas back within one point.
Barnes was fouled with 38 seconds left, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 that Pastrana was able to rebound before being fouled himself. The Cartagena, Colombia native made good on his free throws for a 71-68 Embry-Riddle lead.
After a missed three from Watkins, the rebound was fought over at mid-court by a player from each team. Thomas was able to gain possession and called timeout, however, the Night Hawks were out of time outs and a technical foul was issued to the visitors. Powell made 1-of-2 free throws and on the Eagles' possession thanks to the technical, Barnes was fouled and pushed the Eagle lead to six at 74-68.
Over the next 15 seconds the Eagles were fouled three times and went 4-for-6 to cement the win.
Barnes paced the Blue and Gold with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, also dishing out four assists for the Eagles. Carter scored 17 points, grabbed six boards, handed out six assists and registered five steals. Kiesling (13), Powell (10) and Pastrana (10) also scored in double figures for Embry-Riddle while Pastrana also recorded nine rebounds in the win.
Watkins' 32 points were the most allowed by ERAU to an opposing player in 2013-14 and the Night Hawks' 45-percent from the field was the second-highest given up by the Eagles.
SCOUTING JOHNSON & WALES
At 10-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play, the Wildcats of Johnson & Wales are sitting in fifth place in The Sun Conference. David Graham's squad has wins over Ave Maria and Warner while dropping close games to top-24 teams St. Thomas and Northwood.
Myles Smith paces an offense that scores 76.1 points per game with 16.2 per contest. Myles, Jumaoke Smith and Frank Bennett have accounted for 80 of the team's 103 made three-pointers on the season. Smith averages 11.0 points per game while Bennett brings 9.4 points to the Wildcat effort.
Quentin Tate scores 11.3 points and grabs 6.3 rebounds per game in the post and Ralph Nin and John Lowe each average 5.1 boards oer contest.
THE ERAU-JWU SERIES
Tonight's game marks the 15th time the Eagles and Wildcats have met on the hardwood. Embry-Riddle enjoys a 12-2 all-time record against JWU, including a 7-0 mark on the road.
BY THE NUMBERS
1,106 - Points scored by DeForest Carter, No. 21 on the all-time scoring list
596 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 25th season with ERAU men's basketball
215 - Conference wins in program history
25 - Seasons under the guidance of Head Coach Steve Ridder
13 - NAIA National Tournament appearances
10 - Sun Conference Tournament titles
8 - Regular season conference championships
1 - The Eagles' current national ranking
1 - NAIA National Championship (2000)
THE EAGLES AT NO. 1
The Eagles are 54-7 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. The Eagles have been ranked in the top-10 in 113 polls all-time.
5-0 ATTEMPT
The Eagles are trying to go to 5-0 in Sun Conference play for the first time since 2009-10 when they started the year 6-0 in league play.
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).
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 596 wins in 25 seasons as the Eagles' head coach. |
Embry-Riddle (15-1, 4-0)
at
Johnson & Wales (10-5, 2-2)
1/11/13 | North Miami, Fla. - Wildcat Center | 4 p.m.
(2013-14 Stats)
|
Stats at a Glance |
JWU |
ERAU |
|
Scoring Average |
76.1 |
81.9 |
|
FG Percentage |
.457 (400-876) |
.503 (475-945) |
|
3PT FG Percentage |
.339 (103-304) |
.359 (115-320) |
|
FT Percentage |
.588 (163-277) |
.693 (246-355) |
|
Rebounds |
38.2 |
41.1 |
|
Assists |
16.4 |
19.6 |
|
Turnovers |
15.3 |
16.3 |
|
Steals |
9.9 |
9.4 |
|
Related Links |
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• 2013-14 Embry-Riddle Stats |
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• NAIA National Rankings |
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