DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - A dominant first half by the No. 7/16 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball team allowed the Eagles to down visiting Tampa on Wednesday in the Blue and Gold's first home Sunshine State Conference game since February of 2020, 82-72. The Eagles (10-1, 3-0 SSC) held the Spartans (4-3, 1-2 SSC) to just 21 points in the opening period, as well as keeping UT at just 35% shooting from the field for the game, to move to 3-0 in league play for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
ERAU used a massive 24-6 run to end the first half after the game was knotted at 15-15, going into the halftime break with an 18-point advantage, 39-21. However, the Spartans rallied in the second half, thanks in large part to a huge free throw disparity, getting within seven at one point late in the game.
ERAU led 8-3 at the 15-minute mark of the first half, but the Spartans were able to tie the game at 8-8 before a
Nikola Jerotic jumper gave ERAU a 10-8 cushion, and
Romeo Crouch followed with an and-one layup a few moments later.
After a
Michael McCalister jumper tied the score at 15-15 at the 9:34 mark, the hosts went on a quick 9-0 run that was a part of their larger 24-6 spurt to end the half.
David Park's three at the 5:12 mark pushed the Eagles up 24-19, and after the Spartans briefly stopped the bleeding with a layup, ERAU then went on a 7-0 run, capped by another Park three to enjoy a 31-17 advantage.
Cj Henagan's three-pointer right before the halftime horn gave the home team its biggest lead of the first half at 39-21, and the Eagles actually increased that lead to 22 (47-25) on an
Elijah Jenkins' triple a few minutes into the second period.
Embry-Riddle's biggest lead of the night came with 13:26 on the clock in the second as Jerotic made a layup for a 57-34 ERAU advantage. But from that point on, the Spartans began to chip away, getting their deficit down to 13 with around nine minutes to go before the Eagles briefly went back up by 17 on another Jenkins' trey at 6:40.
A trio of Tampa three-pointers over the next 80 seconds cut into the ERAU lead and forced the Eagles to call timeout as their advantage had shrunk to just eight points.
After a Crouch free throw and then two free throws from UT made it a 72-65 game,
Malcolm Whitlow hit a tough layup with four to play, and a pair from the charity stripe from
Nick Heard put the Eagles back up double-digits, 76-66.
After a defensive stop, Jenkins found a wide open Whitlow on the wing for a three ball and the sophomore from Nebraska buried it to give the Eagles some breathing room over the final three minutes.
The Spartans never got closer than 10 the rest of the way as Crouch iced the game at the free throw line, and the Eagle defense held firm.
Jenkins finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, with Jerotic going for 12 points, three boards, and three helpers. Crouch got his first double-double of the season, and eighth of his ERAU career, with 10 points, and 10 assists, and Whitlow came off the bench for 13 points. Heard also had a nice night for the Eagles, finishing with nine points, and six rebounds.
The Eagles travel to the Aloha State for a pair of games next weekend. ERAU will take on West Virginia State on Friday, Dec. 17 at 5:45 p.m. (HST)/10:45 p.m. (EST) before playing host school Hawai'i Pacific on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. (HST)/1 a.m. (EST).
The 2021-22 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.
