DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team needed a regulation buzzer beater from Dru Nickson and an overtime period, but in the end the Eagles took down previously unbeaten Florida Tech, 97-94, Saturday night in a thriller inside the ICI Center. 
 
The Eagles move to 6-2 (1-1 SSC) on the season after sending the Panthers (7-1, 2-1 SSC) home with their first loss of the season. In total, four Eagles registered double-digit scoring to grind out a win, led by a season-best 24 from Malcolm Whitlow, 15 of which came in the second frame. Whitlow would finish 4-of-6 from behind the arc, including two huge treys in the final minutes of regulation to give the Eagles life and pull within a score each time.  
 
ERAU's stalwart Nickson added 16 points – including the layup as time expired – and three boards, while grad student Cameron Shockley-Okeke notched a 16-point, five rebound evening. Danny Sully registered his fourth double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Jon Alessandro was crucial off the bench for the Eagles, tallying a season-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. 
 
From the get-go, the two Sunshine State Conference foes were in for a track meet as each lit up the scoreboard early with three-pointers. FTU then raced to a 10-3 lead in the first four minutes, but that would be its largest lead until late in the second half. Two threes from Nickson and a bucket each from Michael McCalister and Sully brought the Eagles even with the Panthers, before a Sully lay-in gave ERAU its first lead of the night, 18-16, with 12 minutes on the clock. 
 
The duo of Alessandro and Shockley-Okeke gave the Eagles their largest lead of the night at 10 points with 5 minutes remaining in the frame, before Embry-Riddle eventually took a 40-33 lead into the break, thanks in part to an aggressive game plan of attacking from deep. The Eagles finished 7-of-15 from behind the arc in the first half. 
 
Florida Tech regrouped and took the lead five minutes into the second period, 55-53, behind four threes and a dunk in succession, and used the momentum to carry a lead for 10 more minutes. Down 77-71, Nickson dropped in a pair of free throws, followed by a huge three-point jumper from Shockley-Okeke from the top of the key to pull within one, 77-76, with 1:28 remaining. From there the Eagles kept it tight, but needed stout defensive plays timely FTU turnovers and the aforementioned buzzer beater from Nickson to stay alive. 
 
All but two points came by way of free throws in the overtime frame for the Eagles, who outscored the Panthers 14-11 in the final five minutes to secure the win. 
 
Next up for Embry-Riddle is the Bahama House Classic in the ICI Center December 16 and 17. The Eagles will take on Columbus State and Shaw in the Classic, before heading to perennial power Nova Southeastern to close out the calendar year on Dec. 30.

The 2023-24 Embry-Riddle men's basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.