DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The top-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team was given all it could handle on Thursday evening in the ICI Center as the Thomas Night Hawks battled ERAU to the wire, ultimately coming up short as the Eagles claimed a 78-72 win. Embry-Riddle hit 9-of-12 free throws in the final 35 seconds to escape the Night Hawks' upset bid, moving to 15-1 overall and remaining perfect in Sun Conference play at 4-0, the first time since 2009-10 the Eagles have done so. Thomas, despite 32 points from Justyn Watkins, moves to 8-6 overall and 1-3 in TSC action.
Meeting for the first time since 1999 (Thomas had suspended their basketball program following the 1999-00 season before restarting the program this year), the Eagles and Night Hawks came into the game as two of the best defensive field goal percentage teams in the league. However, each team shot well above what the other team usually allows defensively with TU at a 45-percent clip and the Eagles at 52-percent for the game.
The home team came out of the gate quickly, building a 7-0 lead behind a
Dalton Barnes layup,
Rico Saldana jumper and
DeForest Carter three-pointer before the Night Hawks reached the scoreboard on a pair of Watkins free throws at the 17:43 mark.
The Eagles held the lead for most of the first half, going up 21-11 on a Barnes jumper in the paint with 11 minutes on the clock. After four quick points from Watkins,
Hudson Cadet scored his only two points of the evening off a feed from Saldana and again the hosts led by double digits at 27-17.
With the Eagles enjoying a 30-20 lead after a
Jason Powell triple and 6:21 on the clock, Watkins sparked a 10-0 run for Thomas with a steal and dunk and capped off by Trey Gosier's pull-up jumper to tie the game at 30-30.
Cesar Pastrana converted 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to snap the run, but Max Grace's layup with four seconds left in the half gave the Night Hawks a 32-31 advantage at the break.
Carter led the Eagles with 13 points after 20 minutes as ERAU shot 50-percent in the first half, but Watkins' 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 shooting from the free throw line helped TU to the halftime lead.
Saldana swiped a loose ball on the first possession of the second period and Powell made good on the turnover, hitting a trey that gave the Eagles back the lead at 34-32. Barnes and Saldana scored the next six points in the game as the Blue and Gold advantage grew to 40-32, but Thomas responded, cutting the lead to three when Rodney Sturkie nailed a shot from long range with 13 minutes left in regulation.
Trent Madison further dented the Eagle cushion with a layup and Watkins knotted the score with a free throw at the 12:09 mark before giving the Night Hawks the lead at 49-47 with a fastbreak layup.
Embry-Riddle was able to take a slight lead of 58-55 when
Daniel Kiesling recorded two of his 13 points on a jumper in the lane with less than eight minutes in the game and followed it up with a three-pointer as the Eagle advantage jumped to six.
Trailing by eight at 67-59 with 3:47 left, TU scored the next seven points to cut the lead to one when Sturkie made a layup with just under two minutes on the clock. Carter was able to back down his defender on the next ERAU possession for a layup and a 69-66 lead, but Fare'al Walker was fouled by Kiesling with 45 seconds left and hit both his shots from the charity stripe to bring Thomas back within one point.
Barnes was fouled with 38 seconds left, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 that Pastrana was able to rebound before being fouled himself. The Cartagena, Colombia native made good on his free throws for a 71-68 Embry-Riddle lead.
After a missed three from Watkins, the rebound was fought over at mid-court by a player from each team. Thomas was able to gain possession and called timeout, however, the Night Hawks were out of time outs and a technical foul was issued to the visitors. Powell made 1-of-2 free throws and on the Eagles' possession thanks to the technical, Barnes was fouled and pushed the Eagle lead to six at 74-68.
Over the next 15 seconds the Eagles were fouled three times and went 4-for-6 to cement the win.
Barnes paced the Blue and Gold with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, also dishing out four assists for the Eagles. Carter scored 17 points, grabbed six boards, handed out six assists and registered five steals. Kiesling (13), Powell (10) and Pastrana (10) also scored in double figures for Embry-Riddle while Pastrana also recorded nine rebounds in the win.
Watkins' 32 points were the most allowed by ERAU to an opposing player in 2013-14 and the Night Hawks' 45-percent from the field was the second-highest given up by the Eagles.
Embry-Riddle completes its three-game week with a road trip to Johnson & Wales on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 4 p.m.
