DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - Neither
Jerry Bracey II's shot in the waning seconds, nor
Jon Alessandro's attempted tip-in at the buzzer fell through the net for the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team as the Eagles fell, 72-70 to the visiting Lynn Fighting Knights in front of over 1,000 fans in the ICI Center. The Eagles (18-6, 11-4 SSC) couldn't slow Lynn (10-9, 4-11 SSC) in the second half as the visitors shot 50% from the field in the closing period to knock off the Eagles.
ERAU had just five players score, with all five reaching double-figures, led by Alessandro's 19 off the bench. Alessandro's three-pointer with 23 seconds left cut what was once an eight-point second half lead for Lynn, down to just one possession, and ERAU got a gift when Brandon Bornelus, the best free throw shooter in the league, missed the front-end of a one-and-one with 20 seconds to go.
Unfortunately, the Eagles turned the ball over on their ensuing possession, and it looked like Lynn would ice it when Branden Ellis had a breakaway dunk attempt with the clock winding down, but Ellis' dunk rattled hard off the rim and over the backboard, giving the Blue and Gold life with just over four seconds left.
Bracey subbed in and got the in-bounds pass, racing the length of the court and throwing up a runner over Lynn's Christian Peevy, but the shot was no good, and Alessandro tried to tip the ball back in as the horn sounded, but that too, did not drop, as ERAU suffered its third home loss of the year.
The visitors took a 35-35 halftime tie out to a 46-39 lead at the 16-minute mark of the second half, and the Eagles could just never seem to get over the hump, falling down by as many as eight at 54-46 on a Jamison Evans triple with 11:24 on the clock.
ERAU got to within one possession several times over the final 10 minutes, but each time the Knights had an answer, and led, 72-65 with just over a minute to play. ERAU got a steal and layup from Alessandro before forcing a 10-second call on the next Lynn possession. Alessandro hit a three off a pass from
Romeo Crouch, but that was all the Eagles would get before the end of the contest.
In the first half, the Eagles controlled most of the flow of play, leading by as many as nine (21-12), but Lynn went on an 8-0 run to get back into the game and then Cameron Gaines hit a three at the halftime buzzer to knot the score at 35-35.
Lynn made 45% of its shots from the field, and connected on 10 three-pointers, while grabbing the same number of rebounds as ERAU, 36. Embry-Riddle managed 42% from the floor, but only went 6-for-17 from deep, and were rejected by Lynn seven times on the night.
Alessandro added six rebounds to his 19 points, with
Elijah Jenkins finishing with 18 points. Crouch had 12 points, five assists, and four boards, while
Chris Murray had a double-double of 11 points, 10 rebounds, and four helpers.
Malcolm Whitlow scored 10 points and had three steals.
The Eagles will hit the road to take on Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday, Feb. 12 for a 4 p.m. tilt in West Palm Beach.
The 2021-22 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.
