DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - Both men's basketball teams from No. 22/17 Embry-Riddle and Florida Southern were shorthanded on Wednesday night, but that didn't stop the offenses as the Eagles exploded for a 113-89 victory over the Mocs to grab their first win of 2022. Embry-Riddle (12-3, 5-1 SSC) shot a blistering 64.2% from the floor and dropped 67 second-half points on FSC (5-9, 2-4 SSC) to snap a two-game losing skid. ERAU's 64.2% shooting was the second-best field goal clip for the Eagles in their NCAA II era.
Romeo Crouch led five Eagles in double-figures, scoring 29 points on 11-for-16 shooting, including a 6-for-9 effort from long range, while
Chris Murray, earning his first start of the season, went for a career-high 22 points.
Cj Henagan, also starting for the first time this year, had 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor that included three triples.
Embry-Riddle scored first on a
Jon Alessandro jumper in the lane, but FSC led 10-9 at the 15-minute mark before Crouch's first three of the night gave the Eagles a 12-10 lead, a lead they would never relinquish.
Tarik McKelphin's and-one at the 9:09 mark of the first half cut the Eagle advantage to just three at 26-23, but the home team went on a 12-0 run with points coming from Crouch, Alessandro, Henagan, and
Elijah Jenkins, and suddenly Embry-Riddle was up by 15 (28-23).
The Mocs were able to get the lead down to 10 at the break, and then down to seven when McKelphin made a three to open the second-half scoring. However, an and-one from Crouch off a Jenkins feed pushed the lead to 51-39 a few moments later.
Florida Southern made it 62-54 when E.J. Dambreville connected on a pair of free throws at the 13:45 mark, but once again the Blue and Gold went on a spurt, this time a 16-7 run, led by Crouch and Henagan, and capped by the latter's triple at the 11-minute mark, putting ERAU up 78-61.
Embry-Riddle held a comfortable lead for the rest of the way, despite FSC trimming it to 10 with just over five minutes to play, but a timely Alessandro triple, followed by a Crouch trey all but put the Mocs away, and the Eagles were even able to push the advantage out to 24 on a couple of occasions, including the final score, accounted by DeJean Desiré's layup for a 113-89 final.
The visitors shot a respectable 47% percent from the field, but were just at 33% from deep, while Embry-Riddle made 10 more field goals on the night, and four more triples.
Crouch added six assists, five rebounds, and two steals to his season-best 29 points, with Murray finishing with eight boards, five assists, a block, and a steal in addition to his 22 points. Henagan grabbed six rebounds, and had two steals, while Jenkins went for 18 points, and six assists, and Alessandro registered 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
ERAU's 28 assists were a season-high, and every Eagle that saw the floor had a hand in an ERAU basket.
Embry-Riddle hosts No. 18/RV Barry on Saturday in the ICI Center. Tip is set for 6 p.m.
The 2021-22 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.
