GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Embry-Riddle vs. Southeastern
DATE: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014
CITY: Daytona Beach, Fla.
SITE: ICI Center
TIP-OFF: 7 p.m. ET
LIVE STATS: Stretch Internet
LIVE AUDIO: Stretch Internet
LIVE VIDEO: Stretch Internet
ON THE RADIO: WELE 1380 AM
SERIES: ERAU leads, 9-5
LAST MEETING: ERAU 79, SEU 71 - Feb. 6, 2013 - Lakeland, Fla.
THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle and Southeastern are meeting in men's basketball for the 15th time.
• The Fire are off to one of the best starts in program history with a 13-2 overall record and 4-1 mark in TSC play.
• The top-ranked Eagles are playing their 63rd game ranked No. 1. Embry-Riddle is 55-7 all-time while ranked No. 1.
• Thursday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 820th career game.
THE EAGLES
The NAIA II No. 1 Embry-Riddle Eagles open a two-game home stand stand tonight against Southeastern and concluding on Saturday against St. Thomas. The Eagles, who lead the country in defensive field goal percentage (.363) and defensive three-point field goal percentage (.268), relied once again on their defensive pressure in their last game on the road against Johnson & Wales. The Wildcats were held to just 36-percent from the floor in ERAU's 67-59 win. Embry- Riddle, in five conference contests, has allowed an average of 61.8 points per game, with a high of 72 allowed to Thomas last Thursday.
The Blue and Gold averages 81.1 points per contest, led by junior DeForest Carter's 16.2 points and freshman Dalton Barnes' 12.6 points each game. Carer's 62-percent field goal percentage leads the conference and is 12th in NAIA II. Cesar Pastrana chips in 9.8 points and pulls down 7.3 rebounds for the Eagles on a nightly basis while fellow junior Jason Powell brings 9.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists to the Eagle effort.
Pastrana eclipsed the 700 career point benchmark against Thomas (Jan. 9) while Powell needs just five points to reach the 700 point milestone.
Last Time Out
NORTH MIAMI, Fla. - Tied at 41-41 with 11 minutes left in the 2nd half, the NAIA II No. 1 Embry-Riddle Eagles ended their game on the road against Johnson & Wales on a 26-18 run to earn their 16th win of the 2013-14 season and stay perfect in Sun Conference play at 5-0. The Eagles (16-1, 5-0) never trailed in the final 11 minutes, coming away with a 67-59 win against the Wildcats (10-6, 2-3).
ERAU put four players in double figures, paced by freshman Dalton Barnes who scored 19 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field while going 5-for-6 at the charity stripe. The Eagles, who sit alone atop the league standings after St. Thomas lost earlier on Saturday, shot 47-percent from the floor, despite shooting just 1-for-10 from beyond the arc, combining with a 24-for-30 effort at the free throw line for the victory.
The Eagles went up 4-0 early before a 3-pointer from Myles Smith cut the Eagle lead to 4-3. Neither team could create separation in the first few minutes and back-to-back treys from the Wildcats put them up 14-10 with 10:44 left in the half.
ERAU went up 17-16 on a jumper from Rico Saldana, capping a quick 5-0 spurt, and over the next six minutes the lead changed times six times. A dunk from Hudson Cadet put the visitors up by three at 29-26 and ERAU pushed its lead to five on a DeForest Carter jumper to give the Eagles a 33-28 cushion with 46 seconds left. However, the home team ended the period on a 5-0 run to knot things up before the half, getting a triple and two free throws from Smith to account for the run.
Cesar Pastrana opened the second half scoring with a free throw, but the Wildcats kept pace with ERAU and when Smith hit a trey at the 14:36 mark, Johnson & Wales took a 41-40 lead.
Cadet converted a pair from the free throw line before Barnes made good on a tip-in on the next ERAU possession and Reed Ridder's fastbreak layup off a Carter steal had the Eagles up 46-41 with just over 10 minutes on the clock.
Leading by five at 50-45, the Blue and Gold got its only three-pointer of the game from Jason Powell who buried a trey from the corner with 5:41 left in the game, stretching the Eagle lead to eight. JWU cut the lead to three when Quentin Tate made a layup with four minutes left, but Barnes scored the next four points of the contest to put the Eagles back up by three possessions, 59-52.
The Wildcats were forced to foul over the final minute and the Eagles went 8-for-10 from the line to secure their sixth straight win.
SCOUTING SOUTHEASTERN
In his second season at Southeastern, Head Coach R-Jay Barsh has his team pointed in the right direction. The Fire have won five straight after a 91-71 loss at St. Thomas (Dec. 16), and have wins over Oregon Tech (86-76), Milligan (96-89) and Rio Grande (92-81) on their resume.
SEU leads The Sun Conference with a scoring average of 90.1, putting six players in double figures offensively, led by Dwayne Johnson's 20.0 points per game. Point University transfer Timothy Mitchell averages a double-double of 16.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per contest while Amir Royal (11.9), 2012-13 TSC Freshman of the Year Brandon Moore (11.5), Dana Thomas (10.5) and Jordan Talley (10.0) also register double figure scoring outputs.
Southeastern shoots 50-percent from the floor and 35-percent from beyond the arc while outrebounding its opponents 43-to-37 on average. SEU forces 14.3 opponent turnovers while dishing out 12.2 assists as a team.
THE ERAU-SEU SERIES
Tonight's game marks 15th meeting between the Eagles and Fire as Embry-Riddle holds a 9-5 advantage in the all-time series. Last season, each team won on the other's home floor, including the Fire's upset of then-No. 2 Embry-Riddle on Jan. 9 in the ICI Center.
BY THE NUMBERS
1,119 - Points scored by DeForest Carter, No. 20 on the all-time scoring list
597 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 25th season with ERAU men's basketball
216 - 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 55-7 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.
6-0 ATTEMPT
The Eagles are trying to go to 6-0 in Sun Conference play for the first time since 2009-10. The best conference start in program history was a 9-0 mark in 1998-99.
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 597 wins in 25 seasons as the Eagles' head coach. |
Embry-Riddle (16-1, 5-0)
vs.
Southeastern (13-2, 4-1)
1/15/13 | Daytona Beach, Fla. - ICI Center | 7 p.m.
(2013-14 Stats)
|
Stats at a Glance |
SEU |
ERAU |
|
Scoring Average |
90.1 |
81.1 |
|
FG Percentage |
.501 (492-982) |
.501 (496-990) |
|
3PT FG Percentage |
.353 (78-221) |
.352(116-330) |
|
FT Percentage |
.633 (290-458) |
.701 (270-385) |
|
Rebounds |
42.8 |
40.6 |
|
Assists |
12.2 |
19.2 |
|
Turnovers |
13.2 |
16.2 |
|
Steals |
7.6 |
9.4 |
|
Related Links |
|
• 2013-14 Embry-Riddle Stats |
|
• NAIA National Rankings |
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