HONOLULU - The No. 8/11 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball team shrugged off its longest layoff off the year in a dominant defensive effort against Hawai'i Pacific on Saturday in the Hoops in Hawai'i Holiday Classic, 78-51. The Eagles (11-1) held the host Sharks (3-7) to just 30.5% from the floor, while themselves shooting nearly 50%.

The first half featured a dominant Embry-Riddle defensive effort, as the Eagles held the hosts to just 32% shooting on just nine made field goals, while owning the rebounding battle to the tune of a 23-12 advantage at the break.

Elijah Jenkins led the way in the fist, scoring 12 points on four three-pointers, and on his fourth made trey, he became the 31st member of the ERAU Men's Basketball 1,000 Point Club. 

The Eagles connected on six triples in the first period, but so did the Sharks. Embry-Riddle had six more made field goals in the half, as Romeo Crouch scored seven, Malcolm Whitlow had six, and both Jon Alessandro and Michael McCalister had four points.

A Jenkins triple at the 15:55 mark gave the Eagles a 9-6 lead, but the Sharks were able to answer with a three of their own a few possessions later. 

Alessandro rebounded a missed Eagle shot and converted an open layup to push ERAU back in front, but HPU would take the lead at 14-13 with 13 minutes left in the half. That was the last time they led.

An 11-0 Blue and Gold over the next five minutes had the visitors up 24-14 when Crouch made a driving layup, and then his three on the next Eagle possession pushed the lead to 27-16.

ERAU would go up 15 on Jenkins' third trey of the night, and the Eagles took a 13-point lead into the break as neither team could score in the final three minutes.

The Eagles turned the offense up a notch to start the second half, putting any hopes of a Shark comeback out of the home team's mind with a 19-6 run, capped by an Alessandro three-pointer with 12:46 remaining, giving ERAU a 56-30 lead.

The Eagle bench got the majority of minutes down the stretch, highlighted by the season debut of Chris Murray. The junior went a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and grabbed three rebounds with one block in five minutes of action.

Jenkins finished with a game-high 18 points, with six rebounds, Malcolm Whitlow had 13 points off the bench, while Crouch went for 12 points, and five assists. Alessandro had nine points, six rebounds, and four helpers. 

The Eagles return to The Shark Tank to take on West Virginia State tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 19 at 3:30 p.m. (HST) / 8:30 p.m. (EST). It will mark the Eagles' final non-conference game of the 2021-22 regular season.

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