DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team showed effects of a 10-day layoff in the first half on Wednesday evening in the ICI Center, but a big second half effort, spearheaded by Dalton Barnes allowed the Eagles to beat Tennessee Wesleyan, 81-69. ERAU (9-1) trailed 38-34 at the half, but started the second period on a 15-2 run and never looked back, outscoring the Bulldogs (9-2) by 16 in the second period.

Barnes, who celebrated his 22nd birthday in style, scored a team-high 19 points while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out six assists. 15 of Barnes' points came in the second half while the Eagles, who had been outrebounded by 12 in the first period, returned the favor to the Bulldogs in the second as both teams finished with 41 boards.

The first half got off to a good start for the Eagles as Daniel Kiesling connected on two threes to put ERAU up 6-2, but TWC roared back and took a 12-10 lead on a Leland Robinson layup with 15:19 left in the half. The Bulldogs pulled away slughtly at 17-12 on a Matt Brown three, but the Eagles were able to get back to within 17-16 on a Joseph Gonzalez layup off a Reed Ridder assist.

Trailing by seven at 25-18, freshman Skyler Hogan got a layup to go, followed by a three to trim the lead to 25-23 at the 8:01 mark, and another Kiesling trey a few possessions later tied the game at 26-26.

Embry-Riddle went up 32-28 on a pair of free throws from Barnes with just over three minutes left, but the Bulldogs ended the half on a 10-2 run to take a four-point cushion into the break.

TWC used 11 offensive rebounds to score 12 second-chance points in the first period, with 24 of their points coming in the paint, compared to just 12 for the hosts.

Head Coach Steve Ridder's halftime speech worked as the Eagles came out of the lockerroom on fire, going on a 7-0 run, keyed by a Kiesling three and two buckets from Barnes to go up 41-38, and after Trey Suttles stopped the ERAU run with a layup, Embry-Riddle reeled off 11 straight points to enjoy a 52-40 advantage on a Ridder fastbreak layup on a Barnes assist. During the Eagles' 15-2 run to open the second period, Barnes score nine points and assisted on four more.

The Bulldogs got to within five at 52-47 on a Suttles jumper with 11:59 left, but would get no closer as the Eagles had a balanced scoring effort the rest of the way to win their fourth straight and stop TWC's seven-game winning steak.

Joining Barnes in double-figures were Kiesling with 14, Dillon Graham with 13, Hogan with 12 and Ridder with 10. Ognjen Miljkovic scored nine points with nine rebounds for the Eagles who shot 44 percent for the game, but 52 percent from long range (11-21).

ERAU wraps up their non-conference schedule with the win over TWC and will now play the bulk of its Sunshine State Conference slate, starting with a road game at Nova Southeastern on Jan. 2. Tip is slated for 4 p.m.