TAMPA, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team started fast and never looked back as the Eagles beat the Tampa Spartans for the first time in program history, 92-79 in the Bob Martinez Athletic Center. The Eagles (5-0) raced out to a 17-point lead less than four minutes into the game and sent the Spartans (3-4) to their second home loss of the season.

Ognjen Miljkovic scored a season-high 25 points on 9-for-18 shooting while Reed Ridder provided a season-high 22 points as the Eagles outshot the Spartans 49.2% to 40.0%, scoring the most points (92) against Tampa to date.

"We had another strong start tonight, similiar to our Florida Tech game a few games ago," Head Coach Steve Ridder said. "We came out, made a statement, and then made some big plays in the second half when they tried to make a comeback."

The first five minutes were dominated by the visitors as Embry-Riddle jumped out to a 22-5 lead on 7-for-9 shooting from the field, including a 5-for-5 effort from long range. Miljkovic started things off with a triple before Dillon Graham joined the party on the next Eagle possession, and the two repeated their efforts to build a 12-0 lead before the Spartans reached the scoreboard.
 
Ridder converted all three of his free throws after being fouled on a trey attempt, making it 17-2 at the 16:56 mark, and a few possessions later, Ridder got a pass from Miljkovic and buried one from distance as the advantage grew to 22-5.
 
The Spartans responded with a 10-0 spurt, thanks mostly to Marcel Robinson as the hosts pulled to within 22-15 on a free throw from Robinson, and following a couple of traded buckets, Tampa cut its deficit to six when Duke Shelton made good on a free throw to make it 24-18 with just over 10 minutes left in the half.
 
Joseph Gonzalez stopped the run with a tremendous spin move that led to an easy layup before Ridder connected on another triple to put Embry-Riddle back up by double-digits at 29-18, and the two teams played fairly evenly over the final eight minutes, but it was the Eagles who took a little momentum into the lockerroom when Ridder made his third three with 40 seconds left to give the Eagles a 44-33 cushion at the break.
 
After a Pat Bacon jumper to start the second half, the Eagles scored the next seven points, including a Dalton Barnes and-one to grow their lead to 52-35 three minutes into the second period.

"I think switching our defense up really was a key tonight," Ridder said. "It helped us hide some guys that were in foul trouble at the time."

The Eagles kept the Spartans at bay for the next several minutes, answering UT shot-for-shot, capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Bradley Mapes and Graham that made it 69-52 with 8:43 to go.

However, the Spartans had one more run in them, getting the deficit to 10 on an Austin Rettig trey, but Barnes came to the rescue for the Blue and Gold, finishing a strong drive to the hoop by making a layup and getting fouled, completing the three-point play to put some more distance between the visitors and hosts.

A Robinson layup with 94 seconds left trimmed the ERAU lead to 85-76, but it proved to be too little, too late as the Eagles went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe and got a fastbreak layup from Ridder as part of an and-one to close out the game and emerge with the 13-point win, 92-79.

Joining Miljkovic and Ridder in double-figures were Graham and Barnes with 15 and 14 points, respectively, while Graham registered his second double-double of the year with a 12-rebound performance. Miljkovic grabbed eight boards and dished out three assists for Embry-Riddle, who improved to 1-3 all-time against the Spartans.

Rettig had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Tampa, while Bacon had 21 points and Robinson finished with 17 points in a losing effort.

"Another great program win tonight," Ridder said. "We had some veterans make some big plays for us, and I can't stress enough just how proud we are of our guys and their preparation and commitment to fight for 40 minutes."

The Eagles will return to Daytona Beach to host the 24th-ranked, and 7-0 Rollins Tars on Wednesday, Dec. 2 in the ICI Center. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the ERAU women's basketball contest against Rollins, slated for a 5:30 p.m. start.