DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - The NABC/D2SIDA No. 17 Embry-Riddle men's basketball team was put to the test on Saturday night in the ICI Center, but passed the early-season trial against Wingate in the Bahama House Shootout, downing the Bulldogs 83-73 on Steve & Vicky Ridder Court. The Eagles (6-0) got a pair of double-doubles from Chris Murray and Michael McCalister, and a season-high 23 points from Malcolm Whitlow in addition to a huge contribution off the bench from Jerry Bracey II to send Wingate (2-3) to their second loss of the weekend.

ERAU led by eight at the break, 40-32, but the Bulldogs came out of the locker room on fire, hitting seven of their first nine shots from the floor to turn their eight-point deficit into a four-point lead at the 15:43 mark (49-45), but the Eagles turned to their backcourt as Whitlow answered with five straight points to regain the lead for Embry-Riddle before Bracey II got a pass from Nikola Jerotic and made a driving layup to put ERAU up 52-49.

Embry-Riddle held a several possession lead for the next five minutes until Andreas Wilson's three-pointer at the 8:44 mark cut the Bulldog deficit to 64-62. On the next ERAU possession the Eagles missed their initial shot, but Jerotic grabbed the offensive board and found Bracey II with the shot clock winding down. Bracey II had never attempted a three-pointer in his college career until forced to do so, heaving a shot from 30-plus feet out and finding the bottom of the net to rip the momentum out of Wingate's hands and give it back to ERAU.

The two teams stayed within arm's length of each other until the five-minute mark when once again the visitors were able to get within striking distance at 73-69. Wesley Simpson found McCalister for a layup on the ensuing Eagle possession and then after Simpson missed a three a moment later, the graduate student grabbed his own miss and drove toward the basket, converting the layup and drawing a foul before converting the and-one, making it a 78-71 ballgame.

Wingate got a three from Destin Clark to cut it to 78-73. but the Eagles scored the final five points of the game, a dunk from McCalister, a layup from Whitlow and a free throw from Simpson as the Eagles held on for the 10-point victory.

The start of the game was the opposite of the finish with the Bulldogs building an 8-2 lead before the Eagles were able to find their footing on the offensive end of the floor. An and-one from Whitlow at the 12:36 mark tied the game at 10-10, and a few minutes later the Blue and Gold took its first lead of the game when Bracey II got a steal and fast break layup for a 17-15 advantage. 

ERAU built its cushion up to 24-17 on a pair of McCalister free throws, and kept it there until Dru Nickson's free throws around the three-minute mark of the first made it a double-digit lead at 33-22. However, the Bulldogs would be able to chip away and got the lead down to 35-30 before Whitlow nailed a trey and then a jumper in the paint for the final points of the half as ERAU took a 40-32 lead into the halftime break.

ERAU shot 48% for the game, but just 26% from distance, getting the bulk of its points in the lane with a 48-28 advantage over the Bulldogs. For the sixth straight game, the Eagles out-rebounded their opponent, 45-31.

Whitlow's 23 led all scorers, and the junior also dished out four assists. McCalister finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, while Murray had 14 points and 12 boards. Nickson scored nine points and had five helpers, with Bracey II finishing with a career-high 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Embry-Riddle will host Saint Leo in SSC action on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the ICI Center.

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The 2022-23 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.