DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team secured its 17th win of the 2021-22 season on Wednesday night, 70-61 over Florida Tech, in front of the largest home crowd of the year. The Eagles (17-5, 10-3 SSC) moved into sole possession of second in the Sunshine State Conference, holding off a late Panther (9-10, 3-11 SSC) charge thanks to a pair of underclassmen in
Malcolm Whitlow, and
Michael McCalister. The Blue and Gold wrapped up its three-game home stand with the victory, holding the visitors to just 39% shooting from the field for the night.
The game started slowly for the two offenses, with the score knotted at 9-9 more than six minutes into the contest. A McCalister free throw gave the Eagles their first lead of the game, and a few minutes later,
Romeo Crouch connected on a layup and was fouled, converting the and-one to put ERAU in front 19-18 at the 6:48 mark.
Both teams traded triples, and then layups, with Whitlow's layup putting the hosts back in front, 24-23. Whitlow made two free throws on the next Eagle possession, and after a defensive stop, Head Coach
Steve Ridder subbed in
Jerry Bracey II with seven seconds left in the half. Bracey received the in-bounds pass in the back court, racing down the floor and laying the ball into the hoop for a 28-23 ERAU advantage at the break.
Elijah Jenkins started the second half scoring with a trey, but one from the Panthers answered the senior's effort. That would spark a 7-0 run by the home team, capped by a Whitlow three, that grew the lead to 38-26 at the 17-minute mark of the period.
Embry-Riddle maintained a comfortable cushion until the Panthers went on a 5-0 run around 14 minutes left, and then after the Blue and Gold weathered the storm and built the lead back to double-digits, another Florida Tech run with nine minutes left to play cut ERAU's advantage down to just two (56-54) on a Niall Harris layup with 6:24 on the clock.
An offensive rebound and put-back from McCalister on the ensuing ERAU trip down the floor gave the Eagles a bit of breathing room before Crouch connected on his lone three-pointer of the night to extend the Eagle lead to 61-56 a few moments later.
Up by six with just under three minutes, the Eagles grabbed another important offensive board, this time it was
Chris Murray, and his free throw with 69 seconds remaining pushed ERAU's lead to 68-61. Jenkins intercepted an errant Panther pass on the next possession, and when Whitlow found
Nikola Jerotic for an easy layup, the game was sealed.
ERAU dominated the glass once again, out-rebounding FT, 40-25, led by Murray's 12 boards. Jenkins had a career-best nine rebounds to go along with three assists, and three steals. Murray rejected four Panther shots, and finished with five points. Whitlow led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. He also dished out four assists, and collected two steals. McCalister scored 13 points with five rebounds, and three assists, while Crouch finished with 12 points, four rebounds, and five helpers.
Embry-Riddle travels to Tampa on Saturday to take on the Spartans at 4 p.m. at the Martinez Athletic Center.
The 2021-22 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.
