TAMPA, Fla. – In a knock-down, drag-out conference game, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team came away with an 82-79 road win against Tampa on Wednesday night, thanks to a near 25-footer from senior Malcolm Whitlow that left just 2.6 seconds on the clock. The Eagles (8-4, 2-2 SSC) sat down the Spartans (5-8, 1-4 SSC), en route to their third road win on the year.
 
Whitlow, who played his high school career in the Tampa area, ended the night as the game's leading scorer. He came away with 21 points, adding four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
Though the game ended with a flurry of action, it took 2:15 before the first bucket from either squad. Cameron Shockley-Okeke got things rolling, scoring the Eagles' first four points and assisting on a Dru Nickson trey to take the early lead. Nickson nailed another three-ball at 15:10 to allow the Eagles to pull ahead, 10-7.
 
Nickson went off from behind the arc on Wednesday, nailing five of 11 threes for 17 points to go along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Shockley-Okeke finished with nine points, a team-best nine rebounds and two assists. Fellow starter Michael McCalister also scored in double-digits, registering 11 points, including a dunk to give the Eagles their first lead in more than four minutes with just 36 seconds left in the game to make it 79-77.
 
In total, the night featured 12 game-tying buckets and 10 lead changes over the course of the 40 minutes. After UT nailed a buzzer-beater to end the first half, both teams walked into the locker rooms in a 42-42 tie.
 
In repeat fashion, the Eagles held the Spartans scoreless for more than two minutes to begin the second half, but UT started to go on a run. McCalister came in strong for a rebound and a layup at 15:05 to tie it at 51, but a traditional 4-point play on the other end gave the Spartans some breathing room for much of the second half. Tampa reeled off a 10-4 run, taking a 61-55 lead, their largest to that point of the night.
 
But Nickson quieted the roar and connected on a three from the top of the key after a great offensive rebound from Jerry Bracey II to make it, 61-58 after the under-12 media timeout. Bracey (six points, season-high eight rebounds) was a part of an active Eagle bench that finished to combine for 22 points and 17 rebounds. Milan Skoric featured one of his best games, finishing with six points, while Nikola Jerotic finished with six big points of his own, and Jon Alessandro added two points and four boards. 
 
Of the game's 12 ties, five of them happened in exciting fashion in the final three minutes, but thanks to McCallister's dunk with 36 ticks left and Whitlow's wild winner from deep with just 2.6 left, the Eagles flew away with the win, 82-79.
 
Next up for ERAU is a home game against SSC foe Lynn on Saturday in the ICI Center.
 
 
The 2023-24 Embry-Riddle men's basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.