WEST PALM BEACH, Florida - The Palm Beach Atlantic men's basketball team got the best game of Jakob Hester's career and a near perfect night at the free throw line to upset No. 18/23 Embry-Riddle on Saturday, 87-79. The Sailfish (8-7, 4-5 SSC) sent the Eagles (12-4, 5-4 SSC) to their second straight road loss despite attempting 20 less field goals than the visitors.
Hester went for a career-high 34 points to lead four Sailfish in double-figures. In fact, 83 of their 87 points came from those four. PBA went 25-for-26 at the charity stripe while ERAU managed just a 12-for-22 effort from the line.
Embry-Riddle shot 30-for-71 from the field, while the Sailfish finished the game 26-for-51, including 10-for-21 from deep.
The Eagles were victimized by Jakob Hester over the game's first eight minutes as the sophomore big man scored 11 of PBA's first 16 points, with his team leading 16-12 at the under-12 media timeout.
ERAU went scoreless for over three minutes and a Jalen Cooper three-pointer at the 11:28 mark gave the home team its biggest lead of the day at 19-12.Â
Malcolm Whitlow was able to end a streak of five straight missed shots with a jumper, and after a defensive stop, Chris Murray made two free throws to trim the deficit to three with under 10 minutes to play in the first half.
Wesley Simpson got the Eagles within 24-22 with a steal and driving layup right before the under-eight media timeout. But following the stoppage the visitors went cold from the floor, missing four straight shots, while the hosts made four straight, going up by 10 when Hester completed an and-one at the five-minute mark.
Things only got worse for the Blue and Gold before Steve Ridder as forced to call a timeout at the 3:55 mark as the Sailfish capped a 15-2 run with another Hester bucket, giving him 21 points in the first 16 minutes of game action.
Trailing 39-24, the Eagles rattled off 10 straight, capped by two triples from Jon Alessandro, getting to within five points with two minutes left. However, the hosts responded with two three-pointers of their own, stopping all the ERAU momentum, and eventually taking a 47-37 lead into the break.
The Sailfish got all 47 first half points from just four players, while shooting 52% from the floor, and hitting 7-of-13 three-point attempts. The Eagles shot 41% from the floor, having six shots rejected by PBA over the first 20 minutes.
ERAU opened the second half with a 5-0 run before the Sailfish went once again to Hester who the Eagles just could seem to find an answer for on the defensive end. Hester's layup at the 16:32 mark put his team back up nine.
The Eagles had several opportunities to get closer at the free throw line, but could only get one free throw to go to make it a 53-46 game.
Murray came through withy a steal and his pass led to a breakaway dunk for Jerry Bracey II, getting the visitors within four with under 14 minutes on the clock.
Following a PBA timeout, the Sailfish connected on three straight buckets, while Murray tried to respond on the other end with back-to-back layups, but Will Lee's trey at the 11:32 mark suddenly pushed the hosts' lead back to 10 at 63-53.
The Eagles were able to get within four a couple of times over the next few minutes, but each and every time the Sailfish answered, mostly with Hester. His and-one at the under-eight media timeout made it 72-63 as the Sailfish stayed perfect at the foul line (15-for-15) and gave the forward 30 points.
The first missed free throw of the game for the Sailfish preceded a quick 4-0 spurt by the Eagles to get within five at 76-71, but Bryce Lackey came through with a huge three-pointer on the next PBA possession, pushing the advantage back to eight with four minutes to play.
ERAU came through with a couple big defensive stops, and Whitlow's layup with 56 seconds left made it a four-point game at 81-77, leading Ridder to call a timeout.
PBA iced the game at the line over the final minute, going 6-for-6 to finish the contest nearly perfect at 25-for-26.
Murray finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Whitlow went for 18 points, and Simpson had 12 points, seven boards and five helpers. Alessandro was the other Eagle in double-digits with 11 points. All nine Eagles that played in the game scored.
ERAU will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they return home, but it will be a tall task as undefeated No. 2 Nova Southeastern comes to the ICI Center. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.
The 2022-23 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.
