DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team owned the glass in the second half on Wednesday night while getting a career-high 23 points from
Chris Murray en route to an 82-67 victory over rival Flagler at the ICI Center. The Eagles (2-0) turned a six-point halftime lead into a 15-point victory against a Saints (2-3) squad that entered the night averaging over 88 points per game, but the ERAU defense put the clamps on the visitors, especially in the second half, holding FC to just 34% shooting from the floor, and 3-of-18 from beyond the arc.
The turning point of the game came midway through the second half with the score tied 53-53.
Malcolm Whitlow hit a pull-up jumper in the lane that started a 14-2 Eagle run that would push the hosts in front for good. Whitlow quickly followed his jumper with two more in the lane, and after a layup from the Saints
Nikola Jerotic got a put-back followed by two free throws from
Michael McCalister to push the Eagle lead to 63-55.
Jerry Bracey II got an offensive rebound on the next ERAU possession and laid it up and in and then
Danny Sully's layup at the 9:30 mark put ERAU up 67-55 to cap the 14-2 run.
Malik Bryant's jumper a few seconds later stopped the run momentarily, but the Blue and Gold reeled off the next nine points, all coming from ERAU's bench, and the game was put out of reach.
The first half was closely contested with neither team leading by more than two possessions. Murray, who scored 14 of his team-high 23 in the first half, had a layup around the 16-minute mark that made it 10-6 in favor of Embry-Riddle, but a 9-4 run by Flagler put the Saints in front for the first time in the contest. Murray was able to answer with a deep two-pointer, and that started a 7-0 Eagle run that was capped by a McCalister triple.
Flagler was able to battle back and momentarily took the lead at 28-26, but the first of
Jack Dillard's back-to-back treys allowed the Eagles to retake the lead at 29-28 with seven to play in the first.
Chase Fiddler's three at the 4:48 mark gave Flagler a 35-32 advantage, but
Jon Alessandro answered with a turnaround jumper in the lane and then Murray converted a jumper followed by a layup from McCalister as ERAU regained the lead.
The first half came to an end with a last-second three from Alessandro in the corner, giving ERAU a 45-39 lead at the break.
Coming out of the locker room, the home team sprinted out to a 10-point lead at 51-41, but the Saints immediately answered with a 10-0 run of their own to get right back into the contest before the Eagles were able to take control over the final 14 minutes of action and improve to 19-4 all-time at home against Flagler (32-19 all-time overall).
The Eagles shot 49% from the floor and out-rebounded the Saints 51-33 while holding Flagler to a 41% effort overall and just 8-for-26 from deep.
Whitlow had a dozen points, joining Murray in double-figures, while also dishing out six assists. McCalister grabbed a game-high and career-best 12 rebounds to go along with nine points, and Alessandro also finished with nine points and nine boards.
ERAU begins Sunshine State Conference play on Saturday, Nov. 19 at Rollins. Tip is set for 4 p.m.
The 2022-23 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.
