DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team ended the decade in style Saturday night from the ICI Center as they blitzed past Fort Valley State 121-85 in their final non-conference action of the season. The Eagles (11-1) saw double-digit scoring efforts from seven players as the Wildcats (3-10) were unable to match the tempo and pressure applied by the Eagles.
Elijah Jenkins led the way for Embry-Riddle with a 25-point outburst, as he came off the bench to go 7-11 from long range and 9-13 from the floor in the game.
Romeo Crouch posted an 18-point evening, 12 of which came via the three.
Luka Majstorovic picked his third double-double of the season, scoring 15 and hauling down 10 rebounds.
Nick Heard (14 points),
Tylin Lockett-Fuller (12 points),
Danny Sully (11 points) and
Chris Murray (11 points) were the other Eagles in double-figures Saturday night.
The Blue and Gold finished the night with a 39-31 edge in rebounds, and continued their unselfish play on offense, picking up 27 assists on 44 made field goals. For the game, Embry-Riddle shot over 56% from the floor, including 46.5% from three.
ERAU scored first by way of a Majstorovic free throw just 10 seconds into the game, but both teams looked a little sluggish in the early minutes. Fort Valley State took a 4-3 lead at the 17:38 mark following a Tristan Davis layup, and would extend that lead by as much as five with 14:30 left in the half. The Eagles would retake the lead for good at 12:55 on a lay-in from Majstorovic.
Embry-Riddle stepped on the gas and never looked back, leading by as much as 31 in the first 20 minutes of play, as a three from Jenkins at 12:29 sparked a 24-5 run that opened up a comfortable lead that was never really threatened the rest of the night. The Eagles forced 22 turnovers by Fort Valley State, 13 of which came in the first half and the lead was 69-40 heading into the locker room at the intermission.
The Eagles kept Fort Valley at arm's length in the second half, as the lead never dropped below 28 and swelled to as much as 43 with just over five minutes of action remaining. All 15 players in uniform made appearances for ERAU as 11 different players scored in a balanced offensive scheme.
Foxbrennen and Malik Clark led the Wildcats in scoring, as they both collected 18 points. K'Viontae Williams and Gregory Holloway were also in double-figures with 13 and 12 points respectively. Fort Valley finished the night shooting 52.3%, while coming in just shy of 41% from long range.
Embry-Riddle will resume Sunshine State Conference play right away in 2020 on January 2 from Miami Shores, as they take on Barry in a game scheduled for a 7:30 tip-off.
