FT. LAUDERDALE, Florida - Head Coach Steve Ridder and his 2022-23 Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball team will be in search of their 12th conference tournament title on Sunday afternoon at Rick Case Arena. The Eagles (19-10) will look to do something nobody else has accomplished this season, knock off No. 1 and undefeated Nova Southeastern (29-0), and they hope to do it in the Sunshine State Conference Championship game.

Sunday's game is a rematch of last season's epic NCAA II South Region Championship game, one that saw the Eagles, led by All-American Romeo Crouch, hold the lead late against the (also undefeated that year) Sharks before NSU came away with a 71-68 win in front of a fantastic crowd in Ft. Lauderdale.

Jim Crutchfield and his squad won both regular season meetings, despite the Eagles holding halftime leads in both games. NSU won 88-76 in Daytona Beach on Jan. 18 before the two teams closed out the regular season on Feb. 25 in Rick Case Arena where the Sharks pulled away late for a 98-90 victory.

NSU has won five straight in the series, and is 9-1 over the last 10 games between the two teams. However, Embry-Riddle still holds the all-time lead in the series, 26-18, a matchup that stretches back to the NAIA and Florida Sun Conference days.

Embry-Riddle is in its first SSC title game, having advanced to the semifinals twice before. The Eagles last played for a conference tournament crown in their final season in the NAIA in 2015. The Eagles are 11-4 all-time in conference tournament championship games, and sport a 4-2 record on the road in title tilts. The last three conference title games featuring ERAU have gone to overtime.

The Sharks hold a 2-1 lead in the postseason against the Eagles, breaking the deadlock with last year's win in the Region final.

Malcolm Whitlow and Chris Murray have paced the Blue and Gold all season long, while the rest of ERAU's supporting cast has stepped up huge at different moments throughout the season. Whitlow's 18.2 points per game and 59 made three-pointers this year are the most for ERAU, while Murray brings 16.6 points, and a team-best 7.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists each night. Michael McCalister ranks third on the team with 9.9 points per game, and second with 7.3 boards per contest, while Dru Nickson averages 9.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists for the Eagles.

Pick your poison with the Sharks. SSC Player of the Year RJ Sunahara (19.5 ppg) leads five players that average in double-figures. He, along with Will Yoakum (18.8 ppg) were named first team All-SSC performers for NSU. Dallas Graziana dishes out 6.3 assists per game, while Jonathan Pierre scores 14.9 points, grabs 5.6 rebounds, and collects 3.3 assists per outing.

Nova Southeastern has already easily locked up hosting duties for the NCAA II South Region Tournament. The Sharks, who will be the top-seed regardless of Sunday's outcome, will welcome seven other South Region teams (made up of the SSC, Gulf South Conference, and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, to Rick Case Arena this coming week.

The Eagles were listed 10th in this past week's Region rankings, but that did not take into account either of ERAU's SSC Tournament victories. ERAU would need to be in the top-seven of the final region rankings, announced this coming Sunday evening to earn at at-large berth. But a win on Sunday afternoon would take any debate out of the committee's hands and give the Blue and Gold an automatic bid to the eight-team Region tournament.

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