GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Embry-Riddle at Florida Memorial
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014
CITY: Miami Gardens, Fla.
SITE: Robinson Athletic Center
TIP-OFF: 7 p.m. ET
LIVE STATS: Stretch Internet
LIVE AUDIO: Stretch Internet
ON THE RADIO: WELE 1380 AM
SERIES: ERAU leads, 42-12
LAST MEETING: ERAU 71, FMU 52 • Jan. 7, 2014 - Daytona Beach, Fla.
THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle and Florida Memorial will be playing for the 55th in men's basketball.
• The Lions have won four of their last five games.
• ERAU looks to bounce back from Wednesday's home loss to Northwood.
• Saturday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 825th career game.
THE EAGLES
No. 3 Embry-Riddle looks to stay on top of the conference standings with a win on Saturday against Florida Memorial in Miami Gardens. The Eagles struggled on the glass in a 76-71 loss to Northwood on Wednesday, giving up 15 second chance points in the loss to the Seahawks.
DeForest Carter and Dalton Barnes have carried the Eagle offense as of late, averaging 15.7 and 13.5 points per game respectively for the season. Carter scored 23 in Wednesday's loss to Northwood and has 346 points for the season. Freshman Barnes has scored at least 12 points for seven straight games, including a pair of 20-point performances against Thomas and Ave Maria.
Cesar Pastrana pulls down a team-high 7.2 rebounds per contest and adds 9.1 points for ERAU while Jason Powell brings 9.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
Last Time Out
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The 18th-ranked Northwood Seahawks grabbed 44 rebounds and recorded 15 second chance points to post a 76-71 upset of No. 3 Embry-Riddle on Wednesday night in the ICI Center. The five-point victory for Northwood (16-5, 7-3) was the first on the Eagles' home floor since 2011 while Embry-Riddle (19-3, 8-2) lost for the second time in three games at home. The Northwood win puts the top four teams in The Sun Conference within one loss of each other as Embry-Riddle (8-2), St. Thomas (8-2), Southeastern (7-3) and Northwood (7-3) battle for the regular season title with eight games left in the conference schedule.
The difference in the game proved to be on the boards as Northwood outrebounded the Eagles 44-23, including 13 offensive rebounds that led to 15 second chance points. Chris Solomon finished with a game-high 27 points for the visitors while Jake Lockhart posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards. Northwood was 23-of-26 from the charity stripe while shooting 46-percent from the field and 33-percent from long range.
The Seahawks sprinted out to a 6-0 lead in under two minutes, and went up 10-2 on a Solomon jumper in the paint. Dalton Barnes hit a three to cut the lead to five at the 17-minute mark, but Solomon answered with the first of his three treys on the night.
Leading 15-10, Solomon connected on another triple before Julian Smith made good on a jumper as the Seahawks took a 20-10 lead with 13:12 remaining in the first period.
DeForest Carter sparked an 8-2 Blue and Gold run with three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt. Carter then fed Reed Ridder for a three-pointer before laying in a fastbreak bucket to bring the Eagles within four at 24-20.
Northwood took a 30-23 lead on a Lockhart basket with five minutes left in the first and the Seahawk big man made his and-one free throw to give NU an eight-point advantage.
The Eagles couldn't seem to get within two possessions over the final five minutes and Solomon hit a pair of free throws with five ticks on the clock before halftime to account for the 38-30 score at the break.
The second half was a tightly-contested battle between the two squads and despite the Eagles' shooting nearly 47-percent from the floor, they were never able to tie the game or take a lead.
A Barnes' jumper with 15:21 left brought ERAU to within 46-41, but Solomon answered again from deep to push the Seahawk lead back to eight at 49-41.
The Eagles' Cesar Pastrana picked up his fifth foul of the game with more than 14 minutes remaining and Solomon's free throws gave NU a 51-41 cushion.
The Blue and Gold went on a 9-2 run after Pastrana fouled out, getting to within 54-50 on a Hudson Cadet layup and-one conversion, but the Seahawks scored the next three from the line to restore a seven-point lead with 10 minutes left.
A Carter layup with less than eight minutes remaining brought the crowd to its feet and the home team to within a possession at 59-56, but Ian Umpierre scored two of his eight points with a runner and Fred Mattison followed with a layup on the next Seahawk possession as the NU advantage grew to 63-56.
Northwood increased its lead to 67-57 before the Eagles made a final push, scoring eight of the next 10 points in the contest to bring the game to a 69-65 ledger with 90 seconds left.
Mattison hit a big jump shot with the shot clock running down before Carter connected on a long three to get within 71-68 under 50 seconds.
A turnover by the Seahawks gave Embry-Riddle a chance to cut the lead to one or knot the game with a three, but the Eagles turned the ball over and ERAU was forced to foul the rest of the way.
Solomon hit all four free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal the win for Northwood as the Seahawks won their 10th game in the all-time series.
Carter paced the Eagles with 23 points, five rebounds and three steals while Barnes added 18 points and Ridder contributed 13.
SCOUTING FLORIDA MEMORIAL
FMU has won four of its last five games, including an impressive win over Webber International on the road and a home win over Thomas on Thursday evening. The Lions average 67.8 points per game, led by Samuel Dorismond's 11.8 ppg and Anthony Baggs' 10.9 ppg.
Florida Memorial has drastically improved its shooting percentages since the last meeting between the Eagles and Lions. FMU now shoots 42-percent from the field, 36-percent from deep and 60-percent from the charity stripe.
The Lions get outrebounded by nearly 10 boards per game, and commit 5.5 more fouls per contest than their opponents.
THE ERAU-FMU SERIES
Embry-Riddle leads the all-time series 42-12 after the season's first meeting in January. The Eagles have won the last three games and 11 of the last 12 in the series. Eight of the Lions' 12 wins in the series have come in Miami Gardens.
BY THE NUMBERS
1,190 - Points scored by DeForest Carter, No. 18 on the all-time scoring list
600 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 25th season with ERAU men's basketball
219 - 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
3 - The Eagles' current national ranking
1 - NAIA National Championship (2000)
EXCLUSIVE CLUB
Junior guard DeForest Carter continues to etch his name in the Embry-Riddle record book, joingin a very exclusive club. Carter has career totals of 1,190 points, 524 assists, 500 rebounds, 205 steals and 124 blocks. The only other Eagle to achieve those types of numbers was Tom Fagley (1990-94) who finished his career with 1,569 points, 690 rebounds, 569 assists, 277 steals and 155 blocked shots.
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 600 wins in 25 seasons as the Eagles' head coach. |
Embry-Riddle (19-3, 8-2)
at
Florida Memorial (7-14, 4-6)
2/1/14 | Miami Gardens, Fla. - Robinson Athletic Center | 7 p.m.
(2013-14 Stats)
|
Stats at a Glance |
FMU |
ERAU |
|
Scoring Average |
67.8 |
78.1 |
|
FG Percentage |
.415 (511-1231) |
.491 (618-1258) |
|
3PT FG Percentage |
.359 (111-309) |
.345 (148-429) |
|
FT Percentage |
.602 (291-483) |
.692 (334-483) |
|
Rebounds |
30.1 |
39.3 |
|
Assists |
11.3 |
18.7 |
|
Turnovers |
15.8 |
16.0 |
|
Steals |
7.6 |
8.9 |
|
Related Links |
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• 2013-14 Embry-Riddle Stats |
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• NAIA National Rankings |
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