WINTER PARK, Florida - The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team withstood a torrid first-half shooting performance by the Rollins Tars on Saturday at Warden Arena, emerging victorious in an 88-82 Sunshine State Conference road victory to open league play. The Eagles (3-0, 1-0 SSC), turned a five-point halftime deficit around and won the crucial final minute, sending Rollins (1-2, 0-1 SSC) to its second straight loss.
Both offenses were humming to start the game, especially on the home side as the Tars connected on nine of their first 12 shots, including three triples in the first six minutes to take a 21-13 lead, forcing
Steve Ridder to take a timeout.
The lead was 25-15 when Jack Dillard came off the bench to hit back-to-back triples, stopping the Tar momentum and putting it on the Eagle side. Dillard would add four more points for the Eagles over the next few minutes, as the two teams went back-and-forth.
Jared Berry's step-back trey at the 4:47 mark brought the Eagles within one at 41-40, but the Tars were able to answer with two three's of their own, one being a four-point play and the home team led it 48-41 with two minutes left.Â
Danny Sully's layup got the Eagles within 48-43, and Dru Nickson hit a long range jumper with 57 ticks left to make it a one possession game. The Eagle defense got a stop, but an offensive rebound led to an open three-pointer that the Tars converted, and the home team took a 51-46 lead into the break.
The Tars finished the first half 21-for-31 (67.7%) from the field and 7-for-13 from deep, while the Blue and Gold shot 17-for-30 (56.7%) overall and 7-for-12 (58.3% from three). Every Eagle that played in the first half scored, led by Dillard's 10 points. The bench for the Eagles scored 23 of their 46 first half points.
The Eagles missed their first five attempts from the floor to start the second, but were able to stay close with the Tars through the first few minutes of the period, and Chris Murray's layup at the 16-minute mark brought the Eagles within a possession at 58-55.
Those would be the last points scored for awhile as the defenses for both teams took over for a bit before a Jerry Bracey II layup finally broke the scoreless drought. A pair of Murray free throws at the 13-minute mark gave ERAU its first lead since 5-4 in the opening moments of the contest.
The next few minutes were marred by several ERAU turnovers, but the Eagle defense kept the Tars from pulling away, and Nickson's three with 11 minutes on the clock made it a one-point game at 63-62.
From the 11-minute mark until the eight-minute mark the two teams traded blows, each gaining the lead after back-and-forth made buckets.
Berry made one free throw to tie the game at 72-72 and on his second attempt, Sully tipped in the rebound to make it 74-72 ERAU.
The Eagles had four opportunities to grow their lead at the free throw line over their next couple possessions, but could only manage to make one.
Alessandro's jumper capped an 8-0 Eagle run, but the hosts were able to answer with five quick ones of their own before Berry found Alessandro for an easy layup to retake the lead at 79-77.
Murray made a layup and the Eagles were up four, but two big buckets from the Tars gave them an 82-81 lead with a minute to play.
On the next Eagle possession Whitlow came through with his biggest shot of the day, a three from the right wing in front of the Eagle bench and when it swished through the Eagle bench and crowd exploded with the Eagles in front 84-82.
The Eagles played tough defense on Rollins' star Hutton Yenor, forcing an incredibly tough shot which was off line and the Eagles grabbed the board.
Whitlow made both his free throws after being fouled and once again it was the Eagle defense that stood up against the hosts on their next possession, getting the stop before Head Coach Steve Ridder called timeout with 9.7 seconds left.
Michael McCalister sealed the deal by making both his freebies with just seven seconds left and the Eagles came away with the 88-82 final.
ERAU held Rollins to just 39% shooting in the second half, and out rebounded them 42-27 for the game.
Dillard finished with a career-high 13 points, while Sully also scored 13 points with five rebounds. ERAU's bench scored 36 points in the win. McCalister went for 11 points and seven boards, while Alessandro had 11 points, six rebounds and an assist. Nickson's final line was nine points, seven rebounds and four helpers.
ERAU returns to Daytona Beach to host Brewton-Parker on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. in the ICI Center.
The 2022-23 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.
