DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The 17th win of the 2013-14 season didn't come easy for the top-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team, but the Eagles were able to outlast the visiting Southeastern Fire on Wednesday night, 77-69 in the ICI Center. Embry-Riddle (17-1, 6-0) saw an 18-point second-half lead shrink to four on a couple occasions late in the contest, but the Eagles never allowed Southeastern (13-3, 4-2) within a possession during the final period, in avenging a 68-66 upset loss a year ago against the Fire when the Blue and Gold was ranked No. 2 in the country.
Embry-Riddle remained the only one-loss team in NAIA Division II by shooting 55-percent from the floor and 47-percent from long range, including 57-percent field goal percentage in the second half. The Eagles were able to contain the Fire offensive output to just 69 points, 21 fewer than SEU averages for the season.
The visitors looked to play spoiler for the second year in a row at the ICI Center, going up 5-0 to begin the contest before
Dalton Barnes registered the first Eagle basket with a layup at the 17:45 mark. A 9-0 Eagle run gave the Blue and Gold a 12-8 lead after six minutes, capped off with one of
Jason Powell's four three-pointers for the game.
Embry-Riddle stretched its lead to 20-10 when
Hudson Cadet tipped-in a
Daniel Kiesling miss, and the junior from Chicago, Ill. made it six points in a row for the Eagles on the next ERAU possession.
Trailing 27-16, Southeastern quickly ran off a 7-0 run to cut the lead to four with just under six minutes left in the half, but
DeForest Carter hit a trey to end the Eagle draught. Carter scored the final point of the half at the free throw line for a 37-31 Eagle lead, as neither defense allowed a bucket for the final two minutes of the period.
Rico Saldana paced the Eagles with eight points while Carter chipped in seven and Cadet added six for the home team. Dwayne Johnson scored nine for the Fire in the opening period as Southeastern shot 42-percent compared to ERAU's 53-percent in the first half.
Embry-Riddle showcased a methodical shooting clinic to begin the second half, making the first nine shots it took from the floor as the advantage grew to 58-40 with 13 minutes remaining in the game. That trend stopped there however as the Eagles failed to score another point for six minutes, allowing the Fire to reel off 12 unanswered points, including seven from Johnson, to trim the cushion to six points at 58-52.
A Cadet free throw ended the Southeastern run, but Johnson got to the hoop on the next Fire possession, laying the ball in as the score moved to 59-54 in favor of the hosts.
With 7:10 on the clock, Carter was left open beyond the arc and drilled a much-needed three-pointer to push the ERAU lead back to eight, the first field goal the Eagles had recorded in over six minutes.
Both team's defenses tightened up over the final few minutes of play with the Eagles earning their points at the charity stripe, including a pair from Carter for a 67-58 Eagle advantage with five minutes left.
Dana Thomas hit a triple before Johnson hit a tough 19-footer, one of several the point guard hit for SEU during the course of the contest, bringing the Fire back to within four points at 67-63 with just over four minutes remaining.
After trading a pair of two-point possessions, Powell hit the biggest shot of the night, a three off a Saldana pass that pushed the Embry-Riddle lead to seven and brought the Eagle fan base to its feet.
With 90 seconds left, Jake Hodges scored the final two of his 19 points before Carter answered with a layup of his own. Good defense from Embry-Riddle challenged Johnson on his jumper in the lane with 26 seconds left and a defensive rebound gave the Eagles the ball in the backcourt.
Following a timeout, Carter, the in-bounder, threw a football pass to a streaking Powell in the frontcourt, resulting in an easy lay-in and sealing the victory for the Blue and Gold.
Carter finished with 19 points and 10 assists for his third double-double of the year, while Powell (14), Barnes (12) and Saldana (12) all finished in double figures offensviely. Adding to Carter's 10 assists, both Powell and Barnes had five for the Eagles and Cadet pulled down a career-high nine rebounds.
Johnson registered a game-high 22 points for the Fire while Jake Hodges finished with 19. Timothy Mitchell was held to just six points, more than 10 points below his season average.
The Eagles square off against No. 22 St. Thomas this Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. in the NAIA II Game of the Week. The Bobcats are 12-4 overall and 5-1 in conference play.
