ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – In a game of momentum, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team battled until the end on Saturday night, but the Eagles (11-7, 5-5 SSC) ultimately fell to Eckerd, 76-73.
 
The two teams traded points for much of the early going until Michael McCalister sunk a three to put the Eagles up initially, followed quickly by another three, this time from Dru Nickson to make it an 11-5 Eagles advantage at the 15:40 mark. McCalister went 4-of-6 from the field, scoring 10 points, reaching double digits for the third straight game. Nickson shot 50-percent from the field for 11 points, adding three rebounds and an assist.
 
After both teams traded misses on the next few possessions, the Tritons used a 9-3 run to retake the lead, 16-14. Other than a Jon Alessandro free throw, the Eagles were held scoreless for three minutes until Nikola Jerotic collected a missed three-point shot to put home a layup. Alessandro and Jerotic combined for seven points and five rebounds off the bench for the Eagles.
 
Eckerd's Isaiah Placide, the game's leading scorer with 21 points, knocked down a three to make it a 23-17 Tritons lead, but then Milan Skoric, Alessandro and Malcolm Whitlow all scored quickly to mount a comeback, though Placide hit two threes of his own to keep the Eagles at bay. Skoric's second three in the run came at the 4:18 mark to cut EC's lead to three, 31-28. Eckerd then got its lead back up to 11, before Nickson and Jerry Bracey II scored the game's next six points, allowing the Eagles to head into the break down just seven, 41-34.
 
Skoric finished with six points, a rebound and an assist, while Whitlow, who stared down a tough Eckerd game plan to contain him, ended his night with a good all-around game featuring 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. Bracey collected a team-best 13 points on 13 minutes off the bench.
 
Danny Sully got things going with emphasis, collecting a tough rebound off a hard shot from Whitlow and extending for a layup to cut the lead to four at the start of the second half. Sully was big on the glass once again, ending the night just one rebound shy of a double-double with his 10 points. Nickson laid in his fourth bucket of the night, McCalister connected on an unbalanced shot as he was fouled, and a sunk and-one tied the game once again at 41-41. 
 
Cameron Shockley-Okeke's first bucket of the night was a big one, a three from the elbow to give the Eagles 53-49 lead at 14:25. After Whitlow continued his tough play with a drive down low, Sully previewed a good shot-fake before laying in a bucket to make it 59-52. 
 
The Eagles used three tough layups from Sully, Bracey II and Jerotic to mount a 63-54 lead, but the Tritons roared back after an ERAU timeout with two quick threes to make it a 63-62 Eagle lead at 7:32.
 
The two sides went back-and-forth down the stretch, with four game-tying shots in a span of six minutes. After EC's Isaiah Placide drained another three to tie things up, McCalister banked a jumper off the glass to allow the Eagles to climb back ahead.
 
Whitlow knotted things up again, this time after connecting on a deep three near the corner. His initial shot near the free throw line bounced off the rim, but Sully was there and found Whitlow alone behind the arc to make it 70-70 with 4:17 remaining. After a couple of Eckerd misses, Embry-Riddle gained the lead once again with a Sully spinning hook shot, but the Tritons evened it quickly at 72 all. From there, the Eagles couldn't connect to re-tie the game, eventually falling 76-73. 
 
Up next, the Eagles host SSC foe Tampa on Saturday in the ICI Center at 7:30 p.m.