DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team won its 33rd consecutive home opener on Friday evening in the ICI Center, pulling away in the second half from Spring Hill to open both team's weekend at the 2021 Bahama House Shootout. The Eagles (5-0) shot 54% from the floor for the game, getting a double-double from Jon Alessandro and a near double-double from Romeo Crouch to dispatch the Badgers (0-2), 101-82.

Crouch's three-pointer put the Eagles up 7-4 at the 15:01 mark of the first half, with the two teams playing evenly through much of the opening period.

Alessandro's layup off a Cj Henagan assist at the 13:03 mark put the Eagles up 14-6, and a few minutes later Crouch nailed another triple for the Eagles to enjoy a 20-8 cushion.

The lead grew to as many as 16 in the first half, but the Badgers kept within striking distance and a three from Beril Kabamba before the half made it an 11-point game going into the break, 41-30, in favor of the home team.

The Badgers came out of the half quicker than ERAU, cutting into the Eagle lead with a 10-2 run, and the Eagle lead was just 43-40 when Sam Davidson made a bucket with two minutes gone by in the period.

ERAU responded with a little spurt of its own, capped by a pair of free throws from Nick Heard as the home team went back up by nine at 49-40.

The Badgers stuck around, and John Abate's trey with 12:47 to play once again made it a one possession game (54-51), but a Malcolm Whitlow three, Michael McCalister layup and Whitlow jumper and-one, ballooned the Blue and Gold advantage to 62-53.

The visitors would get no closer than two possession the rest of the night as the Eagles began to outpace the Badgers, pushing the lead to 13 on another Whitlow three, and then 18 (79-61) on two free throws from Elijah Jenkins.

A mid-range jumper from Jenkins resulted in an and-one at the 5:36 mark, and after Jenkins completed the three-point play, the Eagles led by 21, 85-64.

The Eagle role players all showed nice offensive moves in the final few minutes, including nifty layups from David Velasco, and Jerry Bracey II, as well as a terrific and-one from DeJean Desiré.

Crouch finished with 18 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals, while Alessandro registered his second straight double-double, this time of 15 points, 10 boards, and four helpers. Jenkins had 17 points and three steals, and Whitlow came off the bench for 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.

ERAU improved to 54-7 all-time in the Bahama House Shootout, 3-0 all-time against Spring Hill, and Head Coach Steve Ridder won the 721st game in his coaching career.

Embry-Riddle takes on Auburn Montgomery tomorrow, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. The Warhawks lost to Flagler in the day's opening, 78-58.

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