DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team responded in a big way to it's worst loss in four seasons, cruising to a 112-91 win over defending NCAA II National Champion Florida Southern. The Eagles (10-2) gave Head Coach Steve Ridder his 650th career victory as the 27th-year coach becomes the 65th collegiate men's basketball coach to reach the plateau at a four-year institution. The Mocs (7-8) had no answer for the ERAU duo of Ognjen Miljkovic and Joseph Gonzalez as the frontcourt pair went for 27 and 22 points, respectively.

Embry-Riddle shot 50 percent from the floor and nearly 60 percent from deep, converting on 13 treys and 27 free throws as it took a 10-point halftime cushion and grew it to as much as 24 late in the second half before settling for the 21-point final result. FSC shot 43 percent overall and was 10-for-31 from long range, but was no match for the Eagles on the glass as ERAU registered a 53-30 advantage, including 13 and 10 boards, respectively, from Miljkovic and Gonzalez, who both went for ERAU career highs in points while recording double-doubles.

Florida Southern started the game on a 4-0 run before Dalton Barnes got things started for the hosts, and Barnes' bucket would spark an 11-0 run, capped by a Dillon Graham layup to make it 11-4 Eagles at the 16:44 mark of the first period.

Miljkovic made a triple to make it 15-6 with just over 15 minutes left in the half before FSC responded with a little run to trim the deficit to 19-15 on a pair of Jarel Spellman free throws.

Reed Ridder's first three of the evening put the lead at 26-17 with 11 minutes left and Joseph Gonzalez scored five straight points for ERAU as the Embry-Riddle advantage grew to 28-19.

The Eagles held a double-digit lead for most of the rest of the period, going up by as many as 15 on a Bradley Mapes tip-in with 1:54 left on the clock, but FSC finished the period on a 5-0 run, including a Michael Volovic layup at the buzzer to take a little momentum into the break.

Miljkovic led all Eagle scorers with 14 points at the break, with Gonzalez close behind at 13 and Daniel Kiesling also in double-figures at 10. Volovic had 16 points to pace all scorers at the half.

FSC got to within seven after a 4-1 run to start the second period, but Ridder made a layup before getting a steal and finding Graham who was fouled as the Eagles went back up by 11, 61-50.

The Mocs would get no closer than seven the rest of the way as the Eagles seemingly answered every FSC basket with one of their own, and a Miljkovic three, followed by another from the Belgrade, Serbia native made it a 14-point game at 76-62 with 13:28 left.

Barnes made four consecutive from the charity stripe around the 11-minute mark, pushing the Blue and Gold lead to 17 at 84-67, and despite six second half three-pointers from the visitors, the Eagles finished off the Mocs by finding their big men, Miljkovic and Gonzalez who finished with 13 points each in the final period.

Volovic finished with 21 points while Dominique Williams had 16 and Dylan Travis went for 12 for Florida Southern.

Miljkovic fell just two assists shy of a triple-double in his 27-point, 13-rebound, 8-assist outburst. A total of six Eagles finished in double-figures, paced by Miljkovic and Gonzalez, as Graham (17), Barnes (14), Ridder (13) and Kiesling (10) all reached double-digits. Ridder added six assists while Barnes recorded four steals and Graham grabbed seven boards.

Ridder (650-233) is eighth in winning percentage (.736) amongst active four-year collegiate men's basketball coaches with 600+ victories, and has won more games at a Florida four-year institutuon than any men's college basketball coach.

The Eagles will look to keep up their winning ways as they travel to Barry on Saturday, Jan. 9 for a 4 p.m. tip in Miami Shores.