GAMEDAY CENTRAL
NAIA II No. 2 Embry-Riddle (32-1) vs. Friends (Kan.) (17-15)
DATE: Wednesday, March 11, 2015
CITY: Point Lookout, Mo.
SITE: Keeter Gymnasium
TIP-OFF: 1:45 p.m. (CT)
LIVE STATS: National Tournament DakStats
LIVE AUDIO: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE VIDEO: NAIA Network
SERIES: First Meeting

THE OPENING TIP
• Embry-Riddle opens their 15th and final NAIA II National Championship against Friends (Kan.) on Wednesday, March 11 at 1:45 p.m. (CT)
• The Eagles have won 15 in a row and are coming off an overtime victory against Southeastern in the title game of The Sun Conference Tournament (90-86)
• The Falcons have won five straight, claiming the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament crown to earn a bid to the national tournament
• The Eagles are 15-13 all-time in the national tournament, and 11-8 at Point Lookout
• Friends is 2-5 all-time at the national tournament, winning two games last season behind Player of the Year Joe Mitchell
• Embry-Riddle's 32 wins entering the tournament are the most of any team since Cardinal Stritch in 2003.
• Wedesday's contest marks ERAU Head Coach Steve Ridder's 867th career game.

EMBRY-RIDDLE
The second-ranked Eagles have done it with defense and offensive balance in 2014-15, dropping just one contest all season long entering the national tournament. The Blue and Gold average 78.8 points per game while holding opponents to a 64.2 average. The Eagles' 50 percent clip from the field is the sixth-best in the nation while the 7.6 rebound margin ranks seventh-best in the country.

Embry-Riddle is led by a trio offensively, Dalton Barnes, Cesar Pastrana and DeForest Carter. Barnes' 14.7 points per game is the best on the team while Pastrana brings 14.2 ppg and a 62 percent field goal percentage (ranking sixth in NAIA II). Carter, the 2014-15 Sun Conference Player of the Year, chips in 13.1 points per contest and a 54 percent average from the field.

Pastrana grabs 8.2 rebounds per contest while Daniel Kiesling (4.6), Barnes (4.8) and Carter (4.5) are the next three on the glass. Carter is sixth in the nation with 6.6 assists per game with Barnes close behing at 3.5. Carter paces the country with 3.9 steals per contest.

FRIENDS
After struggling to begin the 2014-15 campaing, the Falcons have played their best basketball over the final few weeks of the season, upsetting KCAC leader Tabor in the league tournament before downing Sterling in the title game, 74-59.

As a team Friends averages 69.5 points per contest and 43.5 percent from the field while opponents are averaging 67.3 points and 41.4 percent from the floor. Friends does a lot of damage from deep, connecting on 256 three-pointers this season at a 35 percent clip.

Toby Baxter, a first team All-KCAC selection, leads the Falcons with 17.4 points per game while also recording 4.3 boards and 2.7 assists per contest. Brandon Johnson averages 12.4 points while Brett Williams grabs 3.7 reobounds and dishes out 3.6 assists per outing.

THE SERIES
First Meeting

BY THE NUMBERS
1,733 - Points scored by DeForest Carter, No. 7 on the all-time scoring list
1,324 - Points scored by Cesar Pastrana in his career, No. 18 on the all-time scoring list
903 - Career Points scored by Dalton Barnes, in just his second season as an Eagle
865 - Career rebounds pulled down by Cesar Pastrana, ranked No. 3 in ERAU career history
791 - Career assists dished out by Carter, most all-time
698 - Career rebounds grabbed by Carter, 7th all-time
637 - Wins by Head Coach Steve Ridder now in his 26th season with ERAU men's basketball
.611 - Career Field Goal Percentage by Cesar Pastrana, ranking third all-time
359 - Career steals recorded by Carter, most all-time
242 - Conference wins in program history
172 - Career blocks registered by Carter, 2nd all-time
146 - Career 3-pointers by Jason Powell, 9th all-time
90.9% - Production returning from 2013-14 to this year's squad
26 - Seasons under the guidance of Head Coach Steve Ridder
15 - NAIA National Tournament appearances
11 - Sun Conference Tournament titles
9 - 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 637 wins in 26 seasons as the Eagles' head coach