GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Embry-Riddle vs. Webber International
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014
CITY: Daytona Beach, Fla.
SITE: ICI Center
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, 41-19
LAST MEETING: ERAU 72, WIU 58 • Dec. 3, 2013 - Babson Park, Fla.
THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle and Webber International will be playing for 61st time in men's basketball.
• The Eagles have lost four of their last six games while the Warriors are on a five-game losing streak.
• ERAU is 13-2 at home in 2013-14.
• Saturday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 830th career game.
THE EAGLES
After dropping two straight and four of their last six, the Eagles hope to finish the 2013-14 regular season on a strong note, starting Saturday against Webber International. The Eagles' last two games have been close losses to Southeastern and St. Thomas on the road, dropping to 10-5 in league play, despite playing some of their best basketball in the last month. Â
Embry-Riddle will look to junior DeForest Carter and freshman Dalton Barnes on the offensive end as the pair have led the squad with 14.7 and 13.0 points per contest respectively over the course of the year. Carter also leads the team with 6.2 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. Reed Ridder leads the team in made three-pointers with 40 on the year, followed by Jason Powell's 38 and Carter's 35. As a team, the Eagles are shooting 33-percent from long range while holding opponents to 29-percent from deep.
Last Time Out
The 19th-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team battled back from 16 points down in the first half on the road against 11th-ranked St. Thomas, tying the game in the waning moments with a three-ball from Reed Ridder, but a foul call with 1.2 seconds left led to two made free throws from St. Thomas' Kevin Hincapie that denied ERAU's upset bid. The Eagles (21-6, 10-5) got a half-court heave from Ridder at the buzzer, but the sophomore's attempt fell just short as St. Thomas (20-5, 13-2) solidified its hold on the top spot in The Sun Conference.
DeForest Carter found Ridder in the corner for a trey with 24.9 seconds left that the Ormond Beach, Fla. native buried to knot the game at 58-58, and although the Bobcats missed their first two attempts to win the game, Rico Saldana was called for a questionable foul on Hincapie's desperation attempt and the senior converted both from the charity stripe for the victory.
The first half could not have started worse for the visitors as St. Thomas sprinted out to a 12-2 advantage early on a Floyd Battle fastbreak layup. Ridder's first three of the night with 14:48 left cut the lead to 12-5, but the Bobcats kept pounding the ball inside and eventually went up by 16 at 30-14 with 4:04 left in the half.
STU scored 28 of its 30 first half points in the paint, with all but a pair of free throws coming inside, but ERAU finished the period on an 11-0 run, sparked by a Dalton Barnes and-one layup. Daniel Kiesling, Jason Powell and Hudson Cadet all converted layups in the final 80 seconds as the Eagles brought the game within reach at the break, 30-25.
The momentum stayed with the visitors coming out of the half as the Eagles cut the lead to 30-29 after layups from Ridder and Barnes off of Carter passes.
St. Thomas answered to go back up by five and held a slim lead for the first several minutes of the second period, but after a Powell layup made the score 36-35 in favor of STU, the Eagles took their first lead of the night on a Cesar Pastrana layup with 14:16 on the clock.
Battle and the Bobcats rallied and the guard's three-pointer with less than 10 minutes left gave the hosts a 44-39 cushion, and the lead increased to 48-39 a few moments later on a Battle dunk.
Carter hit a triple to stop the bleeding, but STU went up further when Demonte' Simpson hit a free throw for a 51-42 STU lead.
Trailing 52-43, the Blue and Gold started its comeback, getting a three from Carter and a tip-in from Saldana to get back within four at 52-48 and a Ridder three a few possessions later cut the Bobcat advantage to 55-52 with 2:43 left.
A defensive stop led to a Barnes game-tying layup with 1:15 left, but a put-back from Lorel Beckford, followed by a free throw from Battle put the home team back up 58-55 before Ridder tied the contest with his final three of the night and setup the eventual final possession for St. Thomas.
Embry-Riddle was paced by Ridder and Carter with 11 points each while Barnes and Powell both registered 10 for the Eagles. Carter registered nine assists, four steals and two blocks while Powell and Saldana both pulled down seven boards.
The Eagles turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 25 points for STU and the Bobcats scored 44 of their 60 points in the paint.
SCOUTING WEBBER INTERNATIONAL
The Warriors are looking to climb out of The Sun Conference cellar with their last three games after dropping five straight contests since an 80-78 win over Warner on Jan. 29. Webber International is tied with Ave Maria, Warner and Florida Memorial with four wins while Johnson & Wales sits a game in front with five TSC victories.
Aaron Terry, since joining the Warriors after the holiday break, leads the squad with 14.5 points while Raymond Durant brings 11.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game to the Warrior effort. Nathaniel Morrell is the other Warrior averaging in double figures offensively with 10.6 points.
Webber International is averaging 45-percent from the field and 39-percent from deep while opponents are shooting 46-percent and 37-percent respectively against WIU.
THE ERAU-WIU SERIES
Embry-Riddle has been able to win 68-percent of the games against Webber International, holding a 41-19 record. However, in 2012-13, WIU took two of three from the Eagles, including both in the regular season. But, the Eagles did get revenge in the conference tournament, getting just the second-ever triple-double in program history from DeForest Carter to win an overtime contest 79-78. The Eagles won earlier this year in Babson Park, 72-58.
BY THE NUMBERS
1,240 - Points scored by DeForest Carter, No. 18 on the all-time scoring list
602 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 25th season with ERAU men's basketball
558 - Career rebounds pulled down by Cesar Pastrana
221 - 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 - NAIA National Championship (2000)
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 602 wins in 25 seasons as the Eagles' head coach. |
Embry-Riddle (21-6, 10-5)
vs.
Webber International (8-18, 4-11)
2/15/14 | Daytona Beach, Fla. - ICI Center | 7 p.m.
(2013-14 Stats)
|
Stats at a Glance |
WIU |
ERAU |
|
Scoring Average |
76.0 |
75.7 |
|
FG Percentage |
.445 (684-1536) |
.478 (735-1539) |
|
3PT FG Percentage |
.385 (202-524) |
.334 (171-512) |
|
FT Percentage |
.663 (406-612) |
.689 (403-585) |
|
Rebounds |
35.6 |
39.9 |
|
Assists |
13.4 |
18.1 |
|
Turnovers |
17.1 |
16.2 |
|
Steals |
8.1 |
8.7 |
|
Related Links |
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• 2013-14 Embry-Riddle Stats |
|
• NAIA National Rankings |
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