DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - On Wednesday, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team got its first Sunshine State Conference win of the season over Nova Southeastern, and on Saturday, the Eagles got another monkey off their backs with an 86-77 win over No. 10 Barry in the ICI Center. The Eagles (8-9, 2-7) entered Saturday's game 0-7 all-time against the Bucs (11-3, 7-2), but thanks to monster games from Ognjen Miljkovic and Nashad Mackey, ERAU earned its first win over a ranked team since Jan. 20, 2016 when the Blue and Gold downed No. 5 Eckerd.

The Eagles led for more than 34 minutes of game time on Saturday, withstanding 14 made three-pointers from the Bucs en route to the win. Miljkovic scored a game-high 27 points on 10-for-17 shooting, including four threes, while Mackey became just the second Eagle of all-time to go for 20 points and 20 rebounds, finishing with 24 points, 20 rebounds and four assists.

After Sunday Dech started the scoring with a three to give the visitors an early lead, ERAU answered with a Joshua Hawkins layup and later a Mackey three to tie things up at 5-5. Mackey hit his second straight triple on the next Eagle possession to give the Eagles their first lead of the game, amd ERAU led for the next four minutes until a Daniel Mortensen jumper tied the game at 14-14. 

After Barry took a 17-16 lead at the 11:57 mark, the Eagles went on a 12-4 run over the next five minutes, hitting back-to-back treys from Mackey and Brian Johnson, while Hawkins added four points of his own, giving ERAU a 28-21 lead. The Bucs answered the Eagle run with one of their own, trimming the lead to 32-30 on a Mortensen layup with three minutes to play, but the Eagles got another three from Mackey to spark a 10-2 run to end the half, capped by a Mackey steal and breakaway dunk right before time expired.

The Blue and Gold shot 55 percent from the field in the opening period, led by Mackey's 18 points. The Eagles connected on 6-for-11 from long range, holding Barry to a 4-for-16 clip from deep.

Miljkovic, who had seven points in the first half, opened the second with a three, pushing the Eagle lead to 11. The visitors got to within five at 49-44 at the 17-minute mark, but Rudy Bibb-Boyd made two straight buckets to keep the Eagles at a safe distance before Mortensen and David Moya hit back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to three at 53-50.

Barry tied the game at 57-57 when Mortensen hit his fifth three-pointer, but Miljkovic came up with the huge answer just 18 seconds later, nailing a three from the top of the key to give the Eagles the lead back. Mortensen connected on his sixth three at the 10:32 mark to tie things back up at 60-60 before Miljkovic made a free throw for a one-point Eagle cushion.

Mortensen's seventh and final make from beyond the arc came at the 6:52 mark, giving Barry a 66-65 lead, but Luka Majstorovic regained the lead for the Blue and Gold with a jumper in the paint, and the big man completed the three-point play at the free throw line after being fouled.

The Eagles got the stop they needed on the next Barry possession, and Bibb-Boyd hit a running jumper to stretch the advantage to 70-66. More than a minute passed before either team scored again, and it was the Eagles who got the biggest bucket of the night, a three from Miljkovic at the 4:16 mark, making it 73-66 Embry-Riddle.

Sawyer Glick's three with two minutes to play made it a one-possession game, 77-74 ERAU, and after the home team came up empty, the Bucs had three shots, including two from three, that would not fall, and when Mackey grabbed the rebound on the last miss he was fouled. Mackey made both free throws before Barry again had multiple opportunities from long range on the next possession, neither going in and Miljkovic repeated Mackey's free throw performance after grabbing the rebound, pushing the Eagle lead to 81-74 with 41 seconds left.

Another empty possession for Barry preceded two more made free throws by the Eagles, this time from Majstorovic, and ERAU iced the game with three more free throws over the final 25 seconds to knock off the 10th-ranked Bucs.

Mortensen tied Miljkovic with 27 points, including seven threes, while Glick and Marko Tomic also reached double-figures with 15 and 14, respectively. Barry shot just 44 percent from the field, and only 33 percent from three, while attempting just one free throw for the game.

Miljkovic added six rebounds and three assists to his 27 points, as he and Mackey combined for eight of ERAU's nine made three-pointers. Majstorovic went for 11 points and Bibb-Boyd reached double-figures for the 15th time of 2017-18 with 10 points and four assists. Hawkins had nine points and six assists, while Johnson came off the bench for five points. 

Embry-Riddle shot 50 percent from the floor and 43 percent from three while also going 15-for-17 at the free throw line, including 10-for-11 in the final six minutes of action.

ERAU will reach the halfway point of SSC play on Wednesday, Jan. 17 when the Eagles will host Florida Tech at 7:30 p.m. in the ICI Center.

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