DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - For the fourth time in the last five meetings, the No. 22 St. Thomas Bobcats beat the top-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles, winning on Saturday night at the ICI Center, 67-63 in what was billed as the NAIA Division II Game of the Week. Cold shooting and 22 turnovers doomed the Eagles (17-2, 6-1) who lost for the first time at home since Feb. 13 of last year. The Bobcats (13-4, 6-1) led for the majority of the game, pulling away late in the second half to secure the upset victory.
Floyd Battle set the tone for the Bobcats right away, burying a three-pointer on the first St. Thomas posession of the game as the visitors took an early 3-0 lead.
The Eagles claimed a 9-7 advantage when
DeForest Carter converted from long range with 14:41 left in the first, and the home team stretched its lead to 13-7 on a
Rico Saldana layup and two free throws from
Cesar Pastrana. St. Thomas answered with a 10-0 run with eight points coming in the paint, to take a 17-13 lead, but ERAU answered right back to knot the game at 17-17 on two
Daniel Kiesling free throws.
Jason Powell's trey with 7:39 left in the half gave the Eagles a 22-19 cushion and the Blue and Gold's last lead would come after Powell hit another triple with just under four minutes left in the period to make the score 27-25 in favor of Embry-Riddle.
STU finished the half on an 11-1 run to take a 36-28 lead into the break with Battle's three-pointer with three seconds on the clock punctuating the Bobcat spurt.
St. Thomas shot 45-percent in the first half, including 4-for-8 from deep, while the Eagles shot just 33-percent and 3-for-12 from beyond the arc.
The Eagles began the slow climb back into the game with a 6-2 run in the first three minutes of play of the second half, but the Bobcats turned to Battle and Kevin Hincapie who sparked a Bobcat run that put the visitors up 49-38 with 11:58 left in regulation.
Carter and Kiesling scored the next six points to trim the deficit to 49-44, but again, Battle had an answer and drilled a three at the top of the key to extend the Bobcat lead back to eight at 52-44.
Trailing 57-51, the Eagles put together another quick run as Powell and Pastrana got the lead down to just 57-55, but an offensive rebound on the other end kept a Bobcat possession alive and Davorn Bryant put in a layup as the Bobcats went up by four.
Saldana hit a runner in the lane with 3:52 left for a 59-57 ball game and the next two minutes were hectic as a total of nine missed shots, and two crucial Eagle turnovers resulted in a Battle jump shot in the paint with 1:19 left to give St. Thomas a 62-57 advantage.
Carter and Barnes both hit three-pointers in the last 20 seconds, but the Bobcats converted enough free throws to emerge with the four-point win and snap ERAU's seven-game win streak.
Battle led all scorers with 24 while Barnes paced the Eagles with 15 points. Carter added 14 and Saldana had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Embry-Riddle will look to get back on track next Thursday, Jan. 23 with a road game against Ave Maria at 7 p.m.
