MIAMI SHORES, Florida -
Chris Murray played his final collegiate game in his hometown on Wednesday night, and he bid farewell in style, leading the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team to a 75-62 victory over Barry. ERAU jumped to 14-5 overall and 7-5 in the Sunshine State Conference, sending the Bucs to 7-10 on the year and 3-9 in league play.
The Eagles turned a three-point halftime lead into a 20-point lead late in the game before the hosts chipped away at the end, but it was too little, too late for the Bucs thanks to a monster second half from Murray. The Miami native scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Blue and Gold over the final 20 minutes, finishing the game at +19 in the +/- chart.
The Eagles struggled at the start of Wednesday's contest, turning the ball over four times and giving up five offensive rebounds in the first few minutes, but thanks to a pair of three-pointers from
Dru Nickson and
Michael McCalister, the Eagles found themselves tied at 8-8 at the first media timeout of the evening.
After Jon Alessandro made a layup to give the Eagles their first lead of the night, the visitors kept going, going up 19-8 on an fast break and-one dunk from McCalister thanks to a steal from Jerry Bracey II. The home team was finally able to stop the 14-2 run with a layup, but Murray grabbed an offensive board and converted a outback to push ERAU's lead to 21-10 at the 10-minute mark.
Embry-Riddle enjoyed a 23-14 cushion at the under-eight media stoppage, but the visitors went just 1-for-7 during the next few minutes, finally getting a bucket when Malcolm Whitlow nailed a trey with 4:54 to play in the first, pushing ERAU's advantage to 26-18.
It was the free throw line that was the Eagles' nemesis over the final five minutes as ERAU managed to go just 1-for-7, allowing the Bucs to climb back into the game, and they did just that, ending the half on an 11-6 run as the visitors took a 32-29 lead into the break.
ERAU began the second half on a 7-2 run before the Bucs battled back with a couple made buckets. Nickson pushed the lead out to 43-38 with a made triple right before the first media timeout of the second period.
Murray chose a great time to connect on his first three-pointer of the season, hitting from the wing after an Eagle offensive rebound to make it 50-40 in favor of ERAU
Starting with Murray's triple, the Eagles went on a tear, scoring 17 of the next 21 points, taking a 64-44 lead on a DeJean Desire trey and the Eagles cruised over the final five minutes, securing the first-ever season sweep of Barry in program history.
Murray finished with the 12th double-double of his career in the final game in his hometown, going for 24 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Whitlow had 17 points for the Eagles, while Nickson scored 12 points, grabbed seven boards, and dished out four assists. McCalister was the other Eagle to reach double-figures with 14 points and seven rebounds.
ERAU sits in a four-way tie for second in the SSC standings behind Nova Southeastern. The Eagles, along with Florida Tech, Florida Southern, and Saint Leo are all 7-5 in league play.
Embry-Riddle returns home to host Eckerd on Saturday, Jan. 28 to close out play in the month of January. Tip is slated for 6 p.m. in the ICI Center.
The 2022-23 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.
