GAMEDAY CENTRAL
No. 7 Embry-Riddle (10-0, 1-0) vs. Valley City State (7-7, 0-0)
DATE: Tuesday, December 30, 2014
CITY: Daytona Beach, Fla.
SITE: ICI Center
TIP-OFF: 6 p.m. (ET)
LIVE STATS: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE AUDIO: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE VIDEO: ERAU Gameday Network
SERIES: First Meeting
LAST MEETING: N/A

THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle and Valley City State will be playing for the first time in program history.
• Tuesday's game is the final contest in the 2014 Land of Magic Classic.
• The Eagles are one of just two teams in NAIA II without a loss...defending champion Indiana Wesleyan is the other.
• Pastrana became the 28th member of the ERAU 1,000-Point Club before the break. He is now alone in 27th place with 1,020 career points.
• DeForest Carter currently ranks first in the NAIA in steals per game at 3.5.
• The Eagles No. 13 preseason ranking marks the sixth straight season the Eagles have been ranked in the preseason national poll.
• Tuesday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 844th career game.

EMBRY-RIDDLE
The Eagles are averaging 84.1 points per game while holding opponents to just 63.0 per contest, winning games by an average of 21.1 ppg. ERAU's 52 percent shooting clip ranks as one of the best in the nation while its 41 percent touch from long range is second-best in The Sun Conference.

The Blue and Gold has been dominant ont he glass this season, recording a 10.5 rebound advantage per outing while also dishing out more than 21 assists per contest and registering 10.2 steals and 4.2 blocks per game.

Cesar Pastrana, a three-time Sun Conference Player of the Week, leads the team with a 16.3 points per game average to go along with his 8.8 rebounds per game clip. The senior from Cartagena, Colombia is shooting nearly 70 percent from the floor and 76 percent from the free throw line.

Fellow senior DeForest Carter continues his ascent up the Embry-Riddle record book, averaging 10.8 points, 7.2 assists, 3.4 steals and 3.5 rebounds for the Eagles. Carter needs just 14 steals and 20 assists to claim the all-time record in both categories.

Sophomore guard Dalton Barnes is second on the team withat 13.8 points per game, while also recording 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Newcomer Joseph Gonzalez is nearly in double-figures each game at 9.9 ppg while Reed Ridder (9.5 ppg) and Daniel Kiesling (8.9) round out the Eagle top scorers.

VALLEY CITY STATE
VCSU enters tonight's contest at 7-7 overall, winners of four of the team's last five games (all at home). The Vikings, coached by Jeff Kaminsky, are facing their NAIA II ranked team in the Eagles, having dropped contests to then-No. 4 Dakota Wesleyan (96-76) and then-No. 9 Bellevue (79-63).

Jayden Ferguson (12.7 ppg) leads four players averaging in double-figures for the Vikings. While Russel Robinson is the team's leading rebounder at 6.2 per contest. VCSU is shooting 44 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc and 73 percent from the charity stripe.

BY THE NUMBERS
1,410 - Points scored by DeForest Carter, No. 15 on the all-time scoring list
1,020 - Points scored by Cesar Pastrana in his career.
683 - Career rebounds pulled down by Cesar Pastrana
615 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 26th season with ERAU men's basketball
646 - Career assists dished out by Carter, second all-time
584 - Career rebounds grabbed by Carter
558 - Career Points scored by Dalton Barnes, just his second season as an Eagle
266 - Career steals recorded by Carter
225 - Conference wins in program history
90.9% - Production returning from 2013-14 to this year's squad
26 - Seasons under the guidance of Head Coach Steve Ridder
14 - NAIA National Tournament appearances
10 - Sun Conference Tournament titles
8 - Regular season conference championships
7 - The Eagles current national ranking
1 - NAIA National Championship (2000)

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Heading into his 26th 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 615 wins in 26 seasons as the Eagles' head coach.