DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Moments before Tuesday's tip against Sun Conference foe Florida Memorial, the Embry-Riddle Eagles retained the No. 1 ranking in the third regular season NAIA II Coaches' Poll. The top-ranked Eagles overcame a sluggish and disjointed game against the Lions to secure a 71-52 victory, moving to 53-7 all-time as the No. 1 team in the country. The Eagles move to 14-1 overall and 3-0 in league action while the Lions fall to 3-10 and 0-2 respectively.

Reigning Sun Conference Player of the Week DeForest Carter once again led the Eagle offensive attack, scoring 15 of his game-high 21 points in the first half as Embry-Riddle took a 34-20 lead into the break and the Lions never threatened in the last 20 minutes.

For the fourth consecutive game, the Eagles held an opponent to less than 34-percent shooting from the field as Florida Memorial managed a 31-percent clip on 16-for-52 shooting. The Blue and Gold also forced 24 turnovers and scored 30 points from those FMU miscues en route to the victory.

After Rico Saldana won the tip, Dalton Barnes tracked the ball down and took it all the way to the hoop for the first points of the game, followed by another Barnes layup a few possessions later for a 4-2 lead.

FMU knotted the score at 6-6 on Samuel Dorismond's fastbreak layup at the 15:58 mark, but Daniel Kiesling knocked down a three-pointer for the home team and the Eagles led the rest of the way, pushing the lead to 12-8 when Carter hit a triple.

Barnes was fouled on a jumper at the 7:50 mark and converted both his offerings from the charity stripe as the Eagles doubled-up the Lions, 20-10. Embry-Riddle pushed the lead to 30-18 when Carter hit a pair of free throws and the junior from Big Cypress, Fla. accounted for the next four Eagle points to end the half, including a reverse layup on the last ERAU possession.

Barnes started the second half just like he did the first, with an easy layup, and the Blue and Gold made an effort to get Cesar Pastrana the ball in the post over the next several offensive trips down the floor. Pastrana scored seven straight Eagle points as the Eagles took a 43-30 lead with 14 minutes remaining and Reed Ridder and Pastrana traded off on the next three buckets as Embry-Riddle's cushion grew to 49-35.

Embry-Riddle's biggest lead of the evening came on a Jason Powell layup for a 66-42 advantage with just over three minutes to go in the second half and the Eagle bench did the rest as ERAU moved to 42-12 all-time against Florida Memorial.

Other than Carter's 21 points, Pastrana and Hudson Cadet each reached double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively while Kiesling ended the night with five points, six rebounds and six steals.

The Eagles will welcome the first-year program of Thomas to the ICI Center on Thursday, Jan. 9 for a 7 p.m. tilt.

Embry-Riddle's No. 1 ranking was the 20th in program history and the third consecutive. The Eagles received 11 first-place votes and 372 total points, 32 more than the previous poll. Embry-Riddle is second all-time in No. 1 rankings, trailing only Bethel's (Ind.) 35.

2013 – 14 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll - (Jan. 7)

RANK	LAST WEEK^	SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)	2013-14 RECORD	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (11)	13-1	372
2	3	Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) (1)	13-3	353
3	4	Indiana Southeast (2)	9-3	348
4	5	Bethel (Ind.)	14-2	338
5	11	Dordt (Iowa)	16-1	331
6	2	Southern Oregon	15-3	312
7	10	Saint Xavier (Ill.)	14-2	306
8	15	Midland (Neb.)	15-1	289
9	14	Bellevue (Neb.)	12-3	265
10	18	Cornerstone (Mich.)	13-3	256
11	12	Northwood (Fla.)	11-3	248
12	8	Robert Morris (Ill.)	11-4	233
13	9	Davenport (Mich.)	13-3	231
14	16	Saint Francis (Ind.)	12-4	227
15	7	Indiana Wesleyan	12-4	207
16	22	College of the Ozarks (Mo.)	12-3	204
17	6	Hastings (Neb.)	12-4	151
18	24	Cal Maritime	13-4	148
19	RV	Friends (Kan.)	13-2	147
20	13	Huntington (Ind.)	14-2	144
21	19	St. Thomas (Fla.)	10-3	138
22	21	St. Ambrose (Iowa)	11-4	122
23	RV	College of Idaho	13-5	115
24	RV	Marian (Ind.)	7-2	67
25	NR	Northwest Christian (Ore.)	10-5	61

Others receiving votes: Ashford (Iowa) 54; Southeastern (Fla.) 54; Union (Ky.) 50; William Penn (Iowa) 48; York (Neb.) 33; Morningside (Iowa) 29; Northwest (Wash.) 28; Grand View (Iowa) 19; Madonna (Mich.) 7.