GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Embry-Riddle vs. Johnson & Wales
DATE: Thursday, Feb. 6, 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, 13-2
LAST MEETING: ERAU 67, JWU 59 • Jan. 11, 2014 - North Miami, Fla.
THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle and Johnson & Wales will be playing for 16th time in men's basketball.
• The Eagles have lost two of their last three games.
• ERAU is 12-2 at home in 2013-14.
• Thursday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 827th career game.
THE EAGLES
Embry-Riddle is searching for another bounce back win after suffering its biggest loss of the season on Tuesday at the hands of Thomas on the road. The Eagles are now tied for second in The Sun Conference along with Northwood and Southeastern while St. Thomas holds a one-game lead at the top of the league table.
ERAU's field goal percentage has shifted down over the last few games, now standing at 48-percent for the year and 34-percent from three-point land. The Eagles' defensive field goal percentage now ranks second in the NAIA at 39-percent.
Last Time Out
THOMASVILLE, Ga. – A 31-point performance by Justyn Watkins propelled the Thomas men's basketball team to a 96-74 upset of sixth-ranked Embry-Riddle (20-4, 9-3), Tuesday on Thomas' home court. Watkins, who is the league's leading scorer averaging 29.4 points per game, was 11-of-14 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line as the first-year Thomas program improved to 13-9 overall and 6-6 in conference play.
The game started at a frenetic pace with the Eagles shooting 77.8 percent (7-of-9) and the Night Hawks knocking down 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from the field to make the score 16-13 in favor of the home team less than five minutes into the contest. Thomas was able to extend the advantage to eight (25-17), but a Reed Ridder trey pulled the Eagles back within five with 12:25 remaining in the first frame.
At the 10:38 mark, Watkins broke a two-minute scoring drought by both teams and his layup triggered a 9-0 Night Hawk run that widened the gap to 14 points (34-20) with 9:03 left in the half. With 7:32 left in the half, DeForest Carter drove to the basket and knocked down the and-one to narrow the gap to eight points (34-26), but back-to-back layups by Max Grace and Watkins put Thomas back up by 12 (38-26).
The remainder of the half saw the Night Hawks continue to apply high-pressure defense, which led to 11 Eagle turnovers. Thomas converted those Eagle miscues into 13 points, and that, coupled with 18-of-35 made baskets, include a 6-for-10 clip from the field, helped the Night Hawks' grow their lead to 15 points at the halftime break as they took a 49-34 advantage into the locker room.
The Eagles scored the first basket of the second frame just 13 seconds into the half when Carter stripped Watkins and raced to the basket for the layup. He was fouled on the play and knocked down the free throw to make it a 12-point game (49-37).
On the next possession, the Eagles rebounded a Watkins miss and raced down the court with a chance to cut even further into the lead. But whatever momentum the Eagles had quickly dissipated as the Eagles turned the ball over and Thomas responded with four unanswered points to extend the margin to 55-39.
Although the Eagles took better care of the basketball in the second half with just six turnovers, they struggled with their shooting. The Blue and Gold managed just 12-of-38 shooting (31.6 percent) from the field and were just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc. On the other side of the ball, Thomas shot 56.7 percent from the field (17-30) and led by as many as 24 points on the way to their sixth conference win of the season.
Reed Ridder came off the bench to lead the Eagle scorers with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the charity stripe. Rico Saldana and Cesar Pastrana each finished with 10 points and eight boards.
SCOUTING JOHNSON & WALES
JWU brings a 12-11 overall record and 4-8 TSC mark into Thursday's game in Daytona. The Wildcats lost at home to Warner on Tuesday and have lost six of their last eight contests. Myles Smith leads JWU with 18.1 ppg, converting on 43 three-pointers in 128 attempts. Frank Bennett has hit 45 treys while Jumaoke Smith and Quentin Tate have made 39 and 23 from long range respectively.
As a team, the Wildcats average 74.0 points per contest while giving up 73.0. JWU has outscored its opponents 1630-1609 in 22 games.
THE ERAU-JWU SERIES
Embry-Riddle leads the all-time series 13-2 after January's win in North Miami. Both of the Wildcats' wins in the series have come in the ICI Center.
BY THE NUMBERS
1,206 - Points scored by DeForest Carter, No. 18 on the all-time scoring list
601 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 25th season with ERAU men's basketball
539 - Career rebounds pulled down by Cesar Pastrana
220 - 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
6 - The Eagles' current national ranking
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 601 wins in 25 seasons as the Eagles' head coach. |
Embry-Riddle (20-4, 9-3)
vs.
Johnson & Wales (12-11, 4-8)
2/6/14 | Daytona Beach, Fla. - ICI Center | 7 p.m.
(2013-14 Stats)
|
Stats at a Glance |
JWU |
ERAU |
|
Scoring Average |
74.0 |
77.1 |
|
FG Percentage |
.451 (599-1327) |
.482 (663-1375) |
|
3PT FG Percentage |
.359 (171-476) |
.337 (157-466) |
|
FT Percentage |
.610 (260-426) |
.689 (368-534) |
|
Rebounds |
35.7 |
39.8 |
|
Assists |
15.2 |
18.3 |
|
Turnovers |
14.1 |
16.2 |
|
Steals |
8.7 |
8.5 |
|
Related Links |
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• 2013-14 Embry-Riddle Stats |
|
• NAIA National Rankings |
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