SAINT LEO, Fla. -
Nashad Mackey registered his 13th double-double of the 2018-19 season, but a six-minute scoring drought late in the second half of Saturday's road Sunshine State Conference game against Saint Leo doomed the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team as the Eagles lost, 63-58. ERAU (11-17, 4-13 SSC) scored a season-low 58 points on 39 percent shooting from the floor, while the Lions (12-13, 9-8 SSC) completed the season sweep of the Blue and Gold.
Outside of Mackey, who finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, only
Alston Jones (13) reached double-figures for ERAU offensively as shooting woes plagued the Eagles at the Bowman Athletic Center.
Saint Leo led by three at the break, 29-26, after a very low scoring first period. The home team doubled it's lead on a made three from Yalen Reed to start the second half and the Lions went out by as many as eight points when Malik Fuller made a fastbreak layup with 17:56 left (38-30).
However, the Eagles answered with an 8-0 run, capped by a Jones trey with just under 16 minutes to play, tying the game at 38-38.
A few moments later Mackey converted a four-point play to once again knot the score, this time at 42-42, but the Blue and Gold would score just two points over the next 10 minutes as Saint Leo turned a tie game into a 54-44 lead with 6:06 remaining.
Mackey made a layup to stop the run, and that sparked a 10-1 run over the next 90 seconds to bring the Eagles within a point on a Jones driving layup at the 2:35 mark.
A Kyran McClure jumper kept Saint Leo in front and after a pair of Mackey free throws, McClure did it again to push the lead up to four. ERAU came up empty on its next possession and the Lions iced the game at the free throw line over the final minute.
Saint Leo took advantage of 15 ERAU turnovers and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds en route to 22 free points.
The Eagles return to the ICI Center for their final two games at home in 2018-19, starting with Wednesday's game against Florida Tech. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.