GAMEDAY CENTRAL
NAIA II No. 2 Embry-Riddle (25-1, 13-1) vs. St. Thomas (15-9, 10-5)
DATE: Saturday, February 14, 2015
CITY: Daytona Beach, Fla.
SITE: ICI Center
TIP-OFF: 7 p.m. (EST)
LIVE STATS: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE AUDIO: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE VIDEO: ERAU Gameday Network
SERIES: ERAU leads, 22-20
LAST MEETING: ERAU, 63-59 (OT) • Jan. 14, 2015

THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle hosts St. Thomas for the final regular season meeting between the two schools in conference play.
• The Eagles are coming off a home victory against Southeastern on Thursday, 66-61, which clinched at least a share of the regular season conference title for ERAU.
• A victory on Saturday would clinch The Sun Conference regular season title outright.
• ERAU is 22-20 all-time against STU, including an 8-10 mark inside the ICI Center.
• The Eagles rank eighth in the country in field goal percentage at .498.
• DeForest Carter currently ranks first in the NAIA in steals per game at 3.58 and sixth in the NAIA in assists per game at 6.58.
• Thursday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 861st career game.

EMBRY-RIDDLE
The second-ranked Eagles clinched at least a share of their ninth regular season conference championship on Thursday, defeating Southeastern, 66-61, completing a season sweep of the Fire. ERAU is now 25-1 overall and 13-1 in The Sun Conference, holding a four-game lead over second-place St. Thomas (15-9, 10-5) with four games remaining.

The Blue and Gold has four players in double-figures in scoring, led by Dalton Barnes' 13.8 points per game and followed closely by Cesar Pastrana at 13.6. Pastrana leads the Eagles with 8.3 rebounds per contest as well. DeForest Carter averages 12.8 points and team-highs in assists (6.6), steals (3.6) and blocks (1.1) per contest. Joseph Gonzalez scores 10.3 points in just 16.7 minutes off the bench.

The Eagles are shooting just shy of 50 percent as a team while grabbing almost 37 rebounds and dishing out just over 19 assists per game while holding opponents to just 41 percent from the field and forcing 16 turnovers per contest.

ST. THOMAS
The Bobcats enter tonight's contest at 15-9 overall and 10-5 in the league standings; St. Thomas is the only team left that can finish tied with Embry-Riddle for first in the conference. STU has won its last six contests and eight of 10 since suffering a 63-59 loss to Embry-Riddle in Miami Gardens back on Jan. 14. On Thursday, the Bobcats took down Northwood on the road, 67-64.

Michael Walker leads the team with 13.6 points and 2.6 steals per game while David Santiago scores 13.1 points per contest. Chuckie Becton is contributing 11.7 points per outing and Lorel Beckford averages 11.1 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game.

THE SERIES
ERAU holds a 22-20 mark against the Bobcats and an 8-10 record at home against St. Thomas. STU has won the last three games in Daytona Beach, with Embry-Riddle's last home victory against the Bobcats coming back on Jan. 18, 2011.

BY THE NUMBERS
1,634 - Points scored by DeForest Carter, No. 8 on the all-time scoring list
1,211 - Points scored by Cesar Pastrana in his career, No. 18 on the all-time scoring list
810 - Career rebounds pulled down by Cesar Pastrana, ranked No. 3 in ERAU career history
780 - Career Points scored by Dalton Barnes, in just his second season as an Eagle
745 - Career assists dished out by Carter, most all-time
661 - Career rebounds grabbed by Carter, 9th all-time
630 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 26th season with ERAU men's basketball
.612 - Career Field Goal Percentage by Cesar Pastrana, ranking third all-time
324 - Career steals recorded by Carter, most all-time
238 - 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
2 - 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 now has 630 wins in 26 seasons as the Eagles' head coach.