DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -
Reed Ridder's near-perfect evening guided the NAIA II No. 7 Embry-Riddle Eagles to their 10th victory of 2014-15 as the junior guard scored a career-high 23 points in Embry-Riddle's convincing 97-70 win over visiting Alice Lloyd on Friday night. The Eagles remained perfect on the year at 10-0, the fourth time in program history the Blue and Gold started the season with double-digit wins and no losses. Alice Lloyd dropped to 4-8 overall with the setback.
ERAU showed no signs of its nine-day layoff, blitzing the visitors in the first half with a 61 percent shooting clip from the field and nearly 72 percent shooting touch from long range, connecting on 10-of-14 triples in the opening half to take a 55-35 lead into the break. ALC would fare no better in the second half, never getting closer than 20 points as the Eagles registered their fourth 20+ point win of the year.
Daniel Kiesling started the three-point barrage with an opening trey just 11 seconds into the game and the hosts never looked back, racing out to a 7-0 lead on a
Dalton Barnes jumper. Ridder's first three gave Embry-Riddle a 12-2 lead and the Ormond Beach, Fla. native recorded his only miss of the night when he went 1-for-2 at the free throw line on the next ERAU possession.
Ridder and Barnes scored 11 consecutive Eagle points before
Joseph Gonzalez got in on the action with a trey of his own at the 12:34 mark, pushing the Eagles in front, 23-14. Embry-Riddle made 14 of its first 15 shots from the field and Ridder finished the rare four-point play with eight minutes to go in the first when he nailed a three and was fouled, making the free throw for a 40-18 ERAU cushion.
DeForest Carter collected one of his game-high nine assists on a dish to
Brian Johnson who made good on his three-point attempt with 4:13 on the clock, giving the home team a 24-point advantage at 49-25, a lead that remained comfortable for the rest of the first period.
The second half started much like the first as Ridder made a floater in the paint followed by a
Cesar Pastrana three-pointer and a pair of Carter free throws for a 62-35 Embry-Riddle lead.
ERAU pushed its advantage all the way up to 35 when
Hudson Cadet's fastbreak dunk from a Barnes assist gave the Eagles a 76-41 cushion before many of the Eagle starters got a rest for the remainder of the night.
ALC recorded a 17-4 run midway through the second period to cut the lead to 83-61 when Austin Crisp registered a triple, but four straight free throws from Cadet and
Bradley Mapes stemmed the tide as the Eagle bench maintained a sizable lead.
Embry-Riddle finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field and 57 percent from three, as well as posting an 80 percent clip from the free throw line. Ridder's 23 points eclipsed his previous career-high of 19 against Trinity International (Jan. 3, 2014), and he was joined in double-figures by Barnes (13), Pastrana (13) and Gonzalez (12). Barnes also added five assists and six reobunds as the Eagles outrebounded ALC 47-31. Ridder was perfect from the floor (8-for-8), including a 5-for-5 clip from three.
ERAU returns from the holiday break to host Valley City State on Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. at the ICI Center.
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