DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - Despite holding a 13-point lead in the second half, and a seven-point lead late, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team stumbled down the stretch on Saturday night, falling 75-71 to visiting Eckerd inside the ICI Center. The Eagles (14-6, 7-6 SSC) witness the Tritons (9-10, 6-7 SSC) end the game on a 14-3 run to split the season series with the Blue and Gold.

Malcolm Whitlow scored 20 points, while Michael McCalister finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards, but it wasn't enough for the Eagles to overcome the team's poor shooting as ERAU ended the game managing just a 36.8% clip from the floor.

Leading 68-61 after a Jon Alessandro three-pointer at the 4:51 mark of the second, the Eagles did not make a field goal the rest of the way, converting just three free throws as the Tritons turned that seven-point Eagle lead into a 70-69 EC lead with under two minutes to play. Whitlow made a pair of free throws with 52 seconds to go, but a jumper from Eckerd put the Tritons back in front by one and McCalister's three-pointer on the other end was offline.

Eckerd grabbed the rebound and the Eagles were forced to foul, leading to a 1-for-2 trip at the free throw line for the visitors, but on the miss, the Tritons were awarded possession after the Eagles couldn't grab the rebound and after an in-bounds pass, the Tritons were fouled, ending the game with two made free throws at the charity stripe.

ERAU trailed by one at the break, but came out on fire to start the second half, erasing the deficit and going up 13 when Whitlow made a driving layup with 15 minutes to play and ERAU leading 53-40. However, Eckerd punched back, answering with an 8-0 run of its own before Whitlow was able to stop the bleeding with a jumper in the paint.

The Eagles held on to a multiple possession lead for most of the second half until the final four minutes as Eckerd snapped a five-game Eagle winning streak in the series.

Eckerd shot 45% from the floor, and went 21-for-28 at the free throw line while turning 13 ERAU turnovers into 24 points.

Alessandro joined Whitlow and McCalister in double-figures with 15 points to go along with six boards.

The Eagles hit the road for a pair of SSC games next week, starting on Wednesday with a date against Lynn in Boca Raton. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.

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The 2022-23 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.