ST. PETERSBURG, Florida - On a night that featured 49 foul calls and 55 free throws, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team took advantage of extra opportunities at the charity stripe en route to an 87-78 road win over Eckerd on Wednesday in mid-week Sunshine State Conference action. The Eagles (11-2, 4-2 SSC) shrugged off a season-high 23 turnovers, getting a career-high 25 points from
Chris Murray, and matched by
Malcolm Whitlow's 25 points, to down the Tritons (5-8, 2-5 SSC) for the fifth straight time.
The opening 20 minutes was a defensive affair for both squads, but it was the Eagles who had the better of it, taking an 11-point lead into the break, 37-26.
Murray scored the Eagles' first four points, but that was all the visitors could muster for the first five minutes, trailing 5-4 before Dru Nickson came away with a steal and found Michael McCalister for a fast break dunk and a 6-5 lead.
A few possessions later McCalister hit ERAU's first triple of the night, pushing the Eagles in front 11-8, and the Blue and Gold would not trail the rest of the first half.
Up 24-19 at the 6:45 mark, Embry-Riddle would go on an 11-2 run over the next four minutes, capped by a layup from Nickson to give ERAU a 35-21 advantage with just over two minutes left in the period.
The Tritons were able to stop the run and score five quick points of their own before Jared Berry ended the half with a second-chance jumper, giving the visitors the 37-26 edge heading into the locker room.
ERAU shot 44% from the field in the first half, holding Eckerd to just 26 points on 32% shooting while forcing 10 EC turnovers.
The start of the second half was picture perfect for Embry-Riddle as they turned an 11-point halftime lead into a 17-point cushion in less than three minutes. However, the hosts would go on a major run, sparked by four consecutive Eagle turnovers, cutting their deficit down to 45-37 at the 14:51 mark.
A Murray free throw momentarily stopped the spurt , but an Eckerd three got the Tritons within six, the closest they had been since six minutes left in the first. ERAU responded with a 6-0 run over the next minute, stretching the lead back to double-digits, but once again the hosts got things going with turning the Eagles over, and on ERAU's 17th turnover of the night, EC cut the Eagle lead down to 57-51 with 10 minutes left to play.
Jerry Bracey II came through with a layup to stop the Eckerd momentum and a Wesley Simpson three-pointer at the end of a long ERAU possession made it 62-51 Embry-Riddle with just under nine minutes on the clock.
On the next Eagle possession Simpson found McCalister and the sophomore buried his second trey of the evening, pushing the lead to 14 and erupting the Embry-Riddle bench as the visitors capped an 8-0 run for a 65-51 advantage.
The next several minutes were spent at each team's free throw lines as seven of the nine points between the two teams came at the charity stripe. An Eckerd layup around the six-minute mark cut the ERAU lead to single digits at 68-59 before Whitlow and Daimar Dyall-Richards traded three-pointers for their two teams.
After an Eckerd three, Whitlow came up with a four-point play, burying a three with the shot clock winding down, and following a technical foul on the. Tritons, making the free throw as ERAU pushed its lead to 76-65 with less than four minutes left in regulation.
Eckerd was able to get within six at the two-minute mark, but two fouls called on Eckerd, including a technical, allowed Whitlow to go 4-for-4 at the free throw line with 76 seconds left, making it a 10-point game, 83-73.
An Eckerd three was answered by two free throws from McCalister, and Murray provided the punctuation on the night, dunking home the final points of the game to account for the 87-78 final.
Whitlow scored 18 of his 25 in the second half, finishing the game a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line. As a team, the Eagles went 26-for-32 (81%) at the charity stripe. Murray's career-best 25 points came in addition to six assists and three rebounds, while McCalister finished with 14 points and eight boards.
Embry-Riddle returns to Daytona Beach to host Florida Southern in the ICI Center on Saturday, Jan. 7 for a 6 p.m. tip.
The 2022-23 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.
