DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team is set to make its NCAA II National Tournament debut on Saturday, barring any further global pandemics. The Eagles were selected as an at-large to the 2022 edition of the NCAA Tournament, same as in 2020, but of course that tournament was canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Embry-Riddle is 19-18 all-time in national tournaments, all previous appearances coming as a member of the NAIA (1991-2015). The Eagles are seeded third in the eight-team NCAA II South Region, and will be taking on sixth-seeded West Alabama in the first round.

The Eagles (22-9, 14-6 Sunshine State Conference)
• Head Coach Steve Ridder has been at the helm of the ERAU men's basketball program since 1989, and compiled an overall record of 738-305. Ridder's 738 wins place him 45th on the all-time men's college basketball coaching list, and he is 10th among all active coaches, third among NCAA II coaches.

• ERAU has won 20 games in a season 23 times under Ridder, including each of the last two seasons the Eagles have competed in.

• The Eagles were picked third in the SSC Preseason Coaches' Poll, and ultimately finished second behind Nova Southeastern.

• ERAU started its season at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame where they defeated Missouri Western State in overtime, and Alabama-Huntsville. Ultimately, four of the eight participants at the SCB HOF Classic are making an appearance in the NCAA II National Tournament (Embry-Riddle, UAH, Northwest Missouri State, St. Thomas Aquinas).

• The Eagles are 10-1 against Gulf South Conference opponents since joining the NCAA II ranks in 2016-17. ERAU is 3-0 against both Lee and West Georgia, having played both each of the last three years in the SSC-GSC Classic. ERAU is also 2-1 against Auburn Montgomery, 1-0 versus Mississippi College, and 1-0 against Alabama-Huntsville.

• Embry-Riddle is 2-5 against participants in the NCAA II National Tournament this season: 1-2 against Barry, 0-1 versus Flagler, 1-0 against UAH, and 0-2 against Nova Southeastern.

• With nine losses, if ERAU were to run the table over its final six games to win the national title, it would join North Alabama (1979) as NCAA II National Champions with the most losses in the history of the event (since 1957).

• Romeo Crouch (1st Team) and Elijah Jenkins (2nd Team) earned All-SSC accolades this season; for Crouch, he becomes the first Eagle ever to claim multiple first team SSC honors, as he did so in 2019-20 as well.

• Crouch (90 - 14th) and Jenkins (102 - 4th) are the only pair of teammates in NCAA II to rank in the top-15 nationally in made three-pointers.

• If Crouch out-rebounds teammate Jon Alessandro by six boards over the rest of the season, he would become the first Eagle in program history to lead the team in points, rebounds, and assists.

• The Eagles have a trio of 1,000-point scorers in their backcourt in Crouch (1,621), Jenkins (1,281), and Malcolm Whitlow (1,046).

• Chris Murray has been a huge addition for the Eagles since his return mid-way through the season. He leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game, and has scored in double-figures in eight of his 19 appearances, including each of the Eagles' last four games.

• Alessandro has registered three double-doubles this season, two of them came against GSC opponents. The West Liberty transfer has led ERAU nine times in rebounds, and six times in assists.

• Nikola Jerotic has scored in double-figures in nine contests, and the Eagles have gone 8-1 in those games. Jerotic's .588 field goal percentage is the best on ERAU's squad.

• In his freshman campaign, Michael McCalister has added another dimension to the Blue and Gold, averaging 6.4 points, and 4.8 rebounds, while shooting 50% from the field.

The Tigers (24-6, 16-4 Gulf South Conference)
• Head Coach Nick Woodruff has brought the Tigers to the NCAA II National Tournament in just his second season in Livingston. He has compiled a 32-12 record over this first two campaigns.

• UWA last made a national tournament appearance in 2019, falling in the second round to top-seeded Nova Southeastern in Fort Lauderdale.

• The Tigers were picked sixth in the GSC Preseason Coaches' Poll, but won the league regular season title by a game over Union (Tenn.)

• UWA faltered in the GSC Tournament semifinals against Alabama-Huntsville, 76-65.

• Of UWA's six losses this season, five have come away from their home court in Livingston.

• The Tigers are 1-3 against the rest of the NCAA II South Region bracket, going 0-2 against Union, and 1-1 versus UAH.

• Woodruff was named the GSC Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to the regular season title, and Kortrijk Miles (1st team) and Shardarrion Allen (2nd team) earned All-GSC nods.

• Miles led the Tigers this season with 18.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest. Allen was second in both categories, averaging 13.1 points and 6.3 boards per outing.

• Justin Allison runs the show for UWA, averaging 3.4 assists in addition to his 11.2 points, and 4.1 rebounds per game. Allison also leads the Tigers with 42 made three-pointers this year.

• The Tigers are one of the best defensive teams in the country, having held opponents to just 61.4 points per game.

• The Tigers and Eagles have played seven common opponents this season, UWA went 7-3, while the Eagles went 10-1:
  • Florida Southern - UWA 1-0 (W, 74-69) | ERAU 1-1 (W, 113-89; L, 93-99)
  • Eckerd - UWA 0-1 (L, 67-69) | ERAU 2-0 (W, 67-46; W, 88-73)
  • West Georgia - UWA 2-0 (W, 68-58; W, 83-76) | ERAU 1-0 (W, 88-77)
  • Lee - UWA 1-1 (L, 63-66; W, 64-58); ERAU 1-0 (W, 79-66)
  • Auburn Montgomery - UWA 1-0 (W, 72-64) | ERAU 1-0 (W, 82-74)
  • Palm Beach Atlantic - UWA 1-0 (W, 82-44) | ERAU 3-0 (W, 90-75; W, 78-67; W, 85-71)
  • Alabama-Huntsville - UWA 1-1 (W, 69-68; L, 65-76) | ERAU 1-0 (W, 103-96)