GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Florida Memorial at Embry-Riddle
DATE: Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014
CITY: Daytona Beach, Fla.
SITE: ICI Center (1,968)
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, 41-12
THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle and Florida Memorial are meeting in men's basketball for the 54th time.
• The Eagles hold a 41-12 advantage in the all-time series, including two wins during the 2012-13 season.
• The top-ranked Eagles are playing their 60th game ranked No. 1. Embry-Riddle is 52-7 all-time.
• Tuesday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 817th career game.
• Florida Memorial has beaten the Eagles four times in the ICI Center; the latest on Jan. 27, 2007.
THE EAGLES
NAIA II No. 1 Embry-Riddle concluded its non-conference schedule on Saturday by claiming the 2014 Bahama House & Best Western Aku Tiki Shootout with a win over Central Christian. The Eagles bring a 13-1 overall mark and 2-0 TSC record into the bulk of league play starting tonight against Florida Memorial.
The Eagles are amongst the nation's best in several offensive and defensive categories, starting with field goal percentage defense at 36-percent per game. ERAU also leads the country in three-point field goal percentage defense at 26-percent while ranking second in the NAIA with 20.0 assists per outing and fourth in the country in scoring margin, beating teams by an average of 20.7 points per game.
The Eagles are paced by DeForest Carter as the junior guard averages 16.0 points, 7.1 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game. Freshman Dalton Barnes adds 12.0 points and 5.1 rebounds to the Eagle effort while Rico Saldana is the other Eagle averaging in double-figures at 10.4 points per game.
Last Time Out
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The NAIA II No. 1 Embry-Riddle men's basketball team never trailed in their 82-60 win over Central Christian (Kan.) on Jan. 4. The win gave the Eagles their sixth straight Bahama House & Best Western Aku Tiki Shootout title, and their 11th tournament crown overall. The Blue and Gold improved to 13-1, the fifth time in program history the Eagles have started the season with such a record, while the Tigers dropped just their second game of the year to move to 12-2.
Saturday's contest also marked the final non-conference regular season game of 2013-14 for the Eagles as they now turn their attention to the bulk of The Sun Conference schedule, starting with a home date against Florida Memorial on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m.
Junior DeForest Carter moved past Michael Pyle on the Eagles' all-time scoring list with 21 points in the title game, earning tournament MVP honors for his performance in Embry-Riddle's two victories. Carter is in 22nd on the all-time scoring list with 1,068 points in 80 games in an Eagle uniform. The Big Cypress, Fla. native also recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds while collecting six assists, two steals and a block in 29 minutes of action.
Embry-Riddle scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed, holding their biggest lead of 25 late in the game. The Eagles held the nation's No. 1-ranked rebounding team to just 28 boards while ERAU grabbed 51, the second-highest total of the season.
After jumping out to a 7-0 lead, the Eagles held a slim margin for the first 10 minutes of the game, going up 17-10 when Reed Ridder buried a trey with 10:04 on the clock. Carter followed his teammate's triple up with one of his five on the night before finding Daniel Kiesling for an open jumper as the Eagle lead grew to 22-12.
CCC cut the Embry-Riddle cushion to five at 24-19 when Aaron Miller converted a layup. but Ridder hit another three and Carter recorded a pair of short jump shots for the Eagles who went back up by 12 at 31-19 at the 2:26 mark.
Carter hit his third long range shot of the half with 14 seconds left, but the Tigers closed the period with a Nathan Fort jumper to send CCC into the lockerroom, trailing 34-25.
The Eagles and the visitors traded baskets in the early going of the second half, but the home team went on an 11-5 run to take their 39-29 lead to a 50-34 advantage when Rico Saldana was fed by Jason Powell and finished the play with a lay-in a little over five minutes into the half.
Powell's trey at the 12:03 mark gave the Eagles a 17-point advantage and the next six Eagle points were all recorded in the paint with layups from Cesar Pastrana, Dalton Barnes and Powell. Carter's season-high fifth three-pointer pushed the Embry-Riddle lead to 20 at 65-45 before Powell hit a triple and Hudson Cadet layed in a pass from Barnes for a 72-49 ERAU lead.
Drew Sciano stayed perfect from long range with a three with under three minutes left and Kiesling accounted for the 12th and final Eagle three with 53 ticks left on the clock.
Carter was the game's high scorer with 21 on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor. Powell added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists while Pastrana was the only other Eagle in double-figures with 10 points while grabbing nine boards.
The Eagles shot 49-percent from the field, 43-percent from deep and held the Tigers to 33-percent and 32-percent respectively.
Joining Carter on the All-Tournament team were Ridder and Barnes while Miller and Daniel Nwosuh of CCC and Idris Idris of Bethany (Kan.) also earned All-Tournament recognition.
SCOUTING FLORIDA MEMORIAL
Kenny Bellinger brings his Florida Memorial team to the ICI Center with a 3-9 overall record and an 0-1 mark in league play. The Lions are led by Samuel Dorismond and his 13.2 points per game. The Lions average 67.7 points each contest, shooting just over 40-percent from the floor. Malcolm Gilbert (12.0) and Antwan Baggs (10.9) both average in double-digits offensively while Felix Borges averages 5.4 rebounds for FMU.
THE ERAU-FMU SERIES
Tonight's game marks the 54th game in the series between the Eagles and Lions. ERAU holds a 41-12 advantage all-time, winning two times last year. The Eagles are 21-4 at home against the Lions, the last time FMU won in the ICI Center against the Blue and Gold was Jan. 27, 2007.
BY THE NUMBERS
593 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 25th season with ERAU men's basketball
213 - 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 52-7 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.
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 593 wins in 25 seasons as the Eagles' head coach. |
Florida Memorial (3-9, 0-1)
at
Embry-Riddle (13-1, 2-0)
1/7/13 | Daytona Beach, Fla. - ICI Center | 7 p.m.
(2013-14 Stats)
|
Stats at a Glance |
FMU |
ERAU |
|
Scoring Average |
67.7 |
83.0 |
|
FG Percentage |
.402 (302-752) |
.502 (422-840) |
|
3PT FG Percentage |
.339 (66-174) |
.360 (103-286) |
|
FT Percentage |
.606 |
.691 |
|
Rebounds |
28.4 |
41.9 |
|
Assists |
12.3 |
20.0 |
|
Turnovers |
17.0 |
15.5 |
|
Steals |
6.8 |
8.9 |
|
Related Links |
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• 2013-14 Embry-Riddle Stats |
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• NAIA National Rankings |
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