DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team sent its 2018-19 senior class out with style in the final home game of the season on Saturday night as the Eagles downed visiting Palm Beach Atlantic, 90-81. Embry-Riddle (13-17, 6-13 SSC) continued to keep its' postseason dreams alive with the win over the Sailfish (12-14, 8-10 SSC) as Tampa dropped a game earlier in the day. Nashad Mackey enjoyed his senior night with a 27-point, 16-rebound performance to pace the Eagles to program win No. 699.

ERAU shot 56 percent from the floor in the game, including a 9-for-20 clip from deep and a 15-for-20 effort at the free throw line, a major advantage for the Eagles as the visitors managed just an 8-for-18 contest at the charity stripe. 

The senior trio of Mackey, Alston Jones and Joshua Hawkins scored the Eagles first 15 points in the game, with Mackey's layup putting ERAU in front 15-14 at the 11:51 mark. After that the Eagle freshman took over as Nick Heard and Chris Murray tallied the next 11 points, nine coming from Heard as ERAU went up 26-18. Embry-Riddle stayed in front for the rest of the first half, although the Sailfish got it to within a possession on several occasions, and a Casey Carpinello three with 21 seconds left in the period cut the Eagle lead to 45-41 heading into the break.

Mackey opened the second half with a pair of free throws and then David Velasco came through with a big sequence for the Blue and Gold, registering a steal and fastbreak layup while being fouled, completing the three-point play to put the Eagles up 50-41 just 30 seconds into the second half.

ERAU used that momentum to turn its four-point halftime lead into a 16-point cushion on a Mackey layup with 15:28 on the clock, and the lead grew to as many as 18 when Mackey nailed a triple at the 11:08 mark. However, the Sailfish battled back, getting to within seven (76-69) on a Jules Jasmin fastbreak layup, but Murray answered with a layup of his own on the other end to stop the PBA run and the home team was never really threatened again, going 4-for-4 at the free throw line over the last 70 seconds to seal the victory.

Mackey added four assists and two blocks to his 27 points and 16 boards, while Murray recorded his third double-double of his rookie campaign with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jones finished with 14 points and six assists and Hawkins joined his fellow seniors in double-figures with 10 points, while Heard was the fifth Eagle in double-digits with 11 points. 

Embry-Riddle has a week off before wrapping up the regular season at Eckerd on March 2 at 4 p.m. The Eagles need Tampa to lose both its last two contests while beating Eckerd next Saturday and hoping the Tritons finish ahead of Saint Leo in the SSC standings, in order to qualify for the SSC Tournament.