DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - For the second straight game the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team came out of the gates slowly, needing a second half surge to make it a game against Barry on Wednesday night in the ICI Center. The first half hole proved to be too great for the Eagles (8-8, 1-4 SSC) to overcome, despite ERAU cutting a 20-point first half lead to just five early on in the second as the visiting Bucs (9-3, 4-1 SSC) withstood the Eagle onslaught, pulling away late for a 96-81 win in the ICI Center.

The Blue and Gold got a career night from Tylin Lockett-Fuller who scored a game-high 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the floor and a 5-for-6 effort at the free throw line. Lockett-Fuller came off the bench for the Eagles, scoring 16 of his 25 in the second half while pulling down six rebounds. Alston Jones reached the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career with a mid-range jumper late in the second half, finishing the night with 16 points, four assists and two steals.

The Bucs shot 60 percent (34-for-57) from the field for the contest, including a 62 percent effort in the first as they sprinted out to an early 14-1 lead before Jones made the Eagles' first field goal of the game at the 14:32 mark, a jumper in the paint that made it 14-3. Barry hit several tough shots in the opening half, stretching the lead to it's largest at 38-18 on a Tylan Birts layup with 5:40 left. ERAU managed to get the lead under 20 before the break as the visitors took a 45-29 lead into the lockerroom.

The speech in the Eagles' lockerroom at halftime worked wonders as the Blue and Gold blitzed Barry for a 16-4 run over the first four minutes, starting with a Joshua Hawkins layup and capped with a Luka Majstorovic jumper to make it 49-44 at the 16:07 mark. 

After two straight stops on the defensive end, the Eagles had a pair of opportunities to make it a one-possession game, but both Hawkins' and Nashad Mackey's jumpers just missed and Evan Walshe stopped the bleeding for the Bucs with a driving layup.

Majstorovic nailed a triple a few moments later to trim the deficit to six (53-47), but that was as close as ERAU would get as the Bucs answered with a 7-0 spurt and ultimately a 25-7 run over the next seven minutes to take command of the game.

The Eagles' biggest advantage of the night came on the offensive glass as ERAU scored 27 second-chance points to Barry's seven, but the Bucs had a 30-9 fastbreak points advantage and outscored the Eagles 46-40 in the paint.

Majstorovic joined Lockett-Fuller and Jones in double-figures with 12 points, while Mackey grabbed 11 rebounds to go along with three blocks and two steals.

The Eagles stay at home to host Saint Leo on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m.