GAINESVILLE, Florida - The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team made the NCAA I Florida Gators earn an 80-57 decision on Monday evening at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The Blue and Gold stayed right with the Gators for the entirety of the first half and much of the second until the Gators' depth and long-range shooting allowed them to pull away.

Romeo Crouch was, at many times, the best player on the floor. The senior finished with a game-high 20 points with six assists and four rebounds. Jon Alessandro also reached double-figures for the Eagles, scoring 17 points to go along with seven rebounds.

The first half was played very evenly between the two teams as the Eagle defense made life very tough for the Gators, holding them to just 31.3% from the field. 

Eagles got a stop on the opening Gators' possession, but turned the ball over on their first trip down the floor. UF scored five unanswered to open the scoring before Nikola Jerotic got the Eagles on the board with a layup off a Romeo Crouch pass. 

UF went up by as many as nine at 11-2, but after a pair of Crouch free throws, the Eagles started to chip away. Cj Henagan hit a trey, followed by a jumper in the paint from Crouch to trim the deficit to 11-9.

Jon Alessandro's jumper, and then Elijah Jenkins' first three of the game tied the contest at 14-14 with 11 minutes to play in the first, and a few moments later the Eagles took their first lead on a Crouch layup, making it 16-15.

The Gators were able to re-take the lead and extend it to 23-17 before Alessandro hit an open three-pointer to halve the deficit, but the hosts wouldn't let the Eagles get any closer in the period, taking a 31-25 lead into the break.

ERAU out-rebounded UF 21-20 in the first half, but 10 Blue and Gold turnovers led to nine Gator points.

Coming out of the half, the Gators stretched the lead up to 11 at 39-28, but the Blue and Gold responded in a big way, getting a three from Jenkins, a jumper from Crouch, and a layup each from Alessandro and Crouch, getting to within 41-37 at the 14-minute mark. However, the Gators started to warm up from deep, hitting four of the next five from deep to stretch their lead to 59-41.

After an Alessandro step-back jumper to stop the Gator run, UF again connected from long range to enjoy its biggest lead of the night at 62-43.

The Eagles put together a few mini-runs over the closing 10 minutes of action, but the Gators' depth was enough for the SEC member to hold off the Blue and Gold for the 80-57 final.

Along with Crouch and Alessandro, Jenkins had eight points with six rebounds, and Jerotic finished with four points and six boards.

The official start of the 2021-22 season for Embry-Riddle is this Saturday, Nov. 6 at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic. The Eagles will take on Missouri Western State at 8:45 p.m. (CT) on Saturday before playing Alabama-Hunstville on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 4:15 p.m. (CT). Both games will be played in St. Joseph, Missouri at Civic Arena.

The 2021-22 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.