GAMEDAY CENTRAL
No. 2 Embry-Riddle (21-1, 9-1) at Ave Maria (9-13, 2-9)
DATE: Wednesday, February 4, 2015
CITY: Ave Maria, Fla.
SITE: Tom Golisano Field house
TIP-OFF: 7:30 p.m. (ET)
LIVE STATS: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE AUDIO: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE VIDEO: Ave Maria Livestream
SERIES: ERAU leads, 11-1
LAST MEETING: ERAU, 64-54 • Jan. 10, 2015

THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle makes its final trip to Ave Maria for a mid-week showdown with the Gyrenes.
• The Eagles are coming off a road victory over Florida Memorial on Saturday, 76-59.
• ERAU is 11-1 all-time against AMU, the lone loss coming on the road in the Tom Golisano Field House.
• The Eagles have four players averaging in double-figures in Sun Conference play, led by Dalton Barnes (14.7 ppg).
• DeForest Carter currently ranks first in the NAIA in steals per game at 3.8 and fourth in the NAIA in assists per game at 6.9.
• Wednesday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 857th career game.

EMBRY-RIDDLE
With eight games left in the regular season, the Eagles (9-1 TSC) lead the league by two games in the loss column over Johnson & Wales (8-3), three games over Warner (6-4), and four games over four squads who ar all at 6-5 in conference action. After Wednesday's game, the Blue and Gold will play five of its final seven games at home in the ICI Center with road dates against Northwood (Feb. 10) and Johnson & Wales (Feb. 21).

The Eagles rank as one of the best defensive teams in The Sun Conference, statistically, placing second in scoring defense per game (63.2), and third in field goal percentage defense (.416). ERAU also ranks high offesively, coming in third in scoring offense per game (78.7) and first in field goal percentage offense (.508). Embry-Riddle also ranks second in total rebounds per gmae (36.4), first in assists per game (20.0), first in steals per game (10.2) and second in blocks per game (3.5).

AVE MARIA
The Gyrenes will be looking to snap a two-game skid and a five-game home losing streak when they host ERAU on Wednesday. Ave Maria has found success in slowing games down, holding opponents to a national-best 56.6 points per game.

Jelani Bonner is leading AMU with 13.8 ppg and 8.5 rebounds per contest, connecting on 52 percent of his shots from the floor. Wendell Powell brings 11.0 points and 4.4 rebounds to the Gyrene effort while Brandon Dean leads the team in long range makes with 35.

THE SERIES
ERAU holds an 11-1 mark against the Gyrenes, winning four straight. The Eagles held off AMU (64-54) last month in Daytona Beach after building a big halftime lead before Ave Maria cut it to one possession late in the game.

BY THE NUMBERS
1,579 - Points scored by DeForest Carter, No. 9 on the all-time scoring list
1,149 - Points scored by Cesar Pastrana in his career, No. 21 on the all-time scoring list
768 - Career rebounds pulled down by Cesar Pastrana, ranked No. 6 in ERAU career history
740 - Career Points scored by Dalton Barnes, in just his second season as an Eagle
726 - Career assists dished out by Carter, most all-time
646 - Career rebounds grabbed by Carter, 9th all-time
626 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 26th season with ERAU men's basketball
.616 - Career Field Goal Percentage by Cesar Pastrana, ranking third all-time
314 - Career steals recorded by Carter, most all-time
233 - 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 has 626 wins in 26 seasons as the Eagles' head coach.