DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -
Chris Murray and
Jon Alessandro both had career nights for the 20th-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team on Saturday as the Eagles beat Florida Southern 106-95 in the ICI Center, reaching the century mark for the first time in 2022-23. The Eagles improved to 12-2 on the year and jumped alone into second place in the Sunshine State Conference at 5-2. The Mocs dropped to 10-4 overall nad 4-3 in league play.
Murray, just three days after scoring a career-best 25 points at Eckerd, dropped 31 on the Mocs on Steve & Vicky Ridder Court, including an 11-for-18 effort from the floor and going 9-for-10 at the charity stripe. He was one of four Eagle starters that scored 19 or more on Saturday, with the Blue and Gold starting five accounting for 104 of the Eagles' season-high 106 points.
Alessandro scored 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field and a 4-for-5 clip from the line, the most points he has scored in an Eagle uniform.
Malcolm Whitlow added 23 points, while
Wesley Simpson also had an ERAU-career high of 19 points, just missing out on a double-double with nine rebounds.
Luke Anderson made a layup 30 seconds into the game for a 2-0 FSC lead, but that was the one and only time the visitors would enjoy the advantage on Saturday as the Eagles reeled off the next 22 points to take a commanding 20-point lead. Murray scored the first four ERAU points, while Simpson hit a three for a 9-2 lead and the Mocs just could not find anything to go in their offensive end. Alessandro's layup at the 13:12 mark pushed the hosts' advantage to 22-2 before a Jadin Booth jumper stopped the bleeding, but by then the damage was done.
Florida Southern was able to rally a little over the next five minutes, cutting into the Eagle lead and an Anderson triple with eight minutes and change to play made it 30-19, but Murray hit a pair of free throws before Simpson nailed a trey to extend the cushion back to 16.
The Eagles held the Mocs at arms-length for the remainder of the half, taking a 53-40 lead into the break.
The first quarter of the second half didn't provide either team with much of an advantage, but the Eagles were able to slowly grow the lead to 16 when
Dru Nickson drove the lane and made a layup for a 60-44 score.
The Eagles' only bench points came from
Danny Sully at the 10:38 mark for a 19-point lead at 77-58, and the home team held that same lead a few minutes later at 84-65. However, over the next few minutes the visitors slowly chipped away, getting their deficit down to single-digits at 91-82 with four minutes left to play.
The two teams traded baskets before Whitlow came up clutch with a jumper in the paint to push the lead back to double-digits at 97-86, and the Eagles led it 100-88 after a pair of Simpson free throws with 1:22 on the clock. However, a quick 5-0 spurt by FSC in 20 seconds gave the visitors life.
Alessandro went 1-for-2 at the line with 56 seconds left following a Moc foul before Booth missed a three-pointer and the ball went out of bounds in favor of ERAU. Simpson found a streaking Nickson on the next ERAU possession for an easy dunk to seal it for the Blue and Gold with Simpson and Murray finishing things at the free throw line over the final 40 seconds.
The Eagles shot 54% from the field, 44% from deep and 77% from the line, outrebounding the Mocs 41-29, including grabbing 16 offensive boards.
Embry-Riddle hits the road for a pair of SSC games next week, starting on Wednesday against Florida Tech in Melbourne. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.
The 2022-23 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.
