HONOLULU - Turnovers and poor shooting doomed the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team on Sunday in the final game of the Hoops in Hawai'i Holiday Classic with West Virginia State taking an 87-69 decision. The Eagles (11-2) shot just 37.7% from the floor, and 25.9% from beyond the arc, while 19 ERAU turnovers led to 26 Yellow Jacket (7-5) points.

The Eagles were down by as many as 27 in the second half, but battled back and got the WVSU lead down to as little as 11, but couldn't get back the rest of the way.

The first half was a struggle offensively for the Eagles as they turned the ball over 11 times, leading to 16 WVSU points. 

The Eagles found themselves in an early hole, trailing 7-0 before a Romeo Crouch layup finally got ERAU on the board.

Embry-Riddle just could not find a rhythm on the offensive end in the opening minutes, managing just five points in the first five minutes of play.

Trailing 16-5, the Blue and Gold reeled off seven points to get within four, but the Yellow Jackets answered with a run of their own, pushing the lead all the way out to 13 points at the 8:05 mark (25-12).

An Elijah Jenkins triple with seven minutes to go started ERAU on an 11-2 run that put the Eagles down just four, 29-25 with five to play. But once again WVSU countered, ending the half on a 12-5 run to go into the break with an 11-point lead, 41-30.

The second half was the opposite of what the Eagles needed to get back in the game. WVSU started the period on an 18-2 run over the first six minutes to take a commanding 59-32 lead.

However, Crouch put on a one-man run, scoring eight straight, including a pair of triples, to cut the deficit to 19.

ERAU kept clawing their way back, and when Crouch hit another three-pointer at the 10:50 mark, the Eagles trailed by just 14, 61-47.

ERAU got to within 11 (66-55) on two Malcolm Whitlow free throws, but a couple big treys from the Yellow Jackets kept the Blue and Gold at a distance.

Embry-Riddle came up short on some good lucks over the next few minutes and at the final media timeout, trailed 75-60.

WVSU made their free throws and ERAU couldn't make a final run, falling by a final of 87-69.

Crouch finished with 20 points, and six rebounds, while both Jerotic and Jenkins had 13 points.

The Eagles will return to Florida, and after the holiday break, will jump back into SSC play, taking on Florida Tech on Thursday, Dec. 30 in Melbourne, Florida.

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