DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - It took five hours to decide the outcome of Wednesday's men's tennis match between Embry-Riddle and NCAA I Bethune Cookman (2-1). In the end, it was the Wildcats who were able to rally from a 4-1 deficit to edge the Eagles 5-4 at the Crotty Tennis Complex.

It took just 30 minutes for the Eagles to register their first point of the afternoon as the Eagles' No. 2 tandem of Fabian Zierleyn and Carlos Becke easily dispatched Greg Almeida and Jose Plazas 8-1. Another 30 minutes later, Deni Zmak and Luke de Caires, downed Alexander Chepik and Walid Gtari on court one to extend the Eagle lead to 2-0.

At third doubles, Rodolfo Arreygue and Mickael Faucher fell behind Justin Hall and Alvaro Barrera 7-4, but won the next three points to tie the match at 7-7. Hall held on his next service game and then the BCU tandem registered a break to give the Wildcats their first point with a 9-7 win.

Zmak was the first to finish his singles match as he quickly dispatched Chepik 6-2, 6-0. The next match off the court was at the No. 3 spot where Becke topped Hall 6-3, 6-2, but BCU was able to get a point back when Barrera bested Roberto Cuellar 6-4, 6-2.

The last three matches all went to three sets. On court two, Zierleyn won his first set 6-2, but Gtari came back to win the next two 6-2, 6-4. At No. 4 singles, Arreygue also gained an early advantage with a 6-3 win in the first, but he was unable to hold off Plazas who took the next two sets 6-4, 6-3.

With the team score tied at 4-4, all eyes turned to the contest at No. 5 doubles between de Caires and Almeida. The first set saw de Caires edge Almeida 7-6 (8-6), but Almeida was able to rebound and take the second 6-4. In the deciding frame, de Caires got out to an early 3-0 lead, but Almeida rebounded to win four straight games on the way to a match-clinching 6-4, third-set win.

The Eagles (1-1) will have 10 days to prepare for their next match, which will be at home against NCAA II No. 11 Rollins at 10 a.m. on February 13.