BOCA RATON, Fla. - Trailing by as many as 19 in the first half, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team could have decided to pack it in and accept an apparent loss, but the Eagles rallied in the second half and nearly completed an epic comeback against Lynn on Wednesday night, ultimately falling, 88-77 on the road. The Eagles (6-8, 0-6 SSC) got a career night from Nashad Mackey as the junior went for 27 points and 12 rebounds while ERAU played without Ognjen Miljkovic due to illness, but Lynn shot nearly a season-best 49 percent from the field to send the Eagles to their second-straight loss.

The largest deficit of 19 on the night came on a Lynn trey with four minutes left in the first, but the Eagles ended the period outscoring Lynn by five to be down just 47-33 at the break. Mackey hit a triple to start the second half, but Lynn answered with one of its own, and grew the lead to 18 a few minutes later before Elijah Jenkins hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 56-40.

The team played evenly until the 14-minute mark when the Eagles started to heat uo, starting with a Rudy Bibb-Boyd three. Brian Johnson made it a 10-point game at 66-56 with a jumper at the 11:33 mark and Bibb-Boyd brought the Eagles within six thanks to an and-one three on the next possession.

ERAU kept battling and when Luka Majstorovic made a layup at the 8:18 mark, the lead shrunk to 73-68, and a few possession later, with it still a five-minute deficit for the Eagles, the home team got a crucial offensive rebound and tip-in to push the lead back to seven and the Eagles could never get over that final hill as Lynn pulled away for the 11-point win.

Lynn hit on 8-of-16 from deep in the opening half, while the Eagles struggled at just 1-for-12 from long range, leading to the big first-half deficit.

Mackey added to his SSC-leading double-double number with his 10th of the season, while Majstorovic also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Bibb-Boyd finished with 20 points and four rebounds for the Eagles.

Embry-Riddle stays on the road to take on No. 22 Eckerd on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 4 p.m. in St. Petersburg.