DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the second time this season, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team found itself in an overtime game, but this time the visiting Lynn Fighting Knights came away with the win, 91-89. Though hard-fought, the loss moves ERAU to 8-5 (2-3 SSC) while Lynn advances to 9-2 (4-1 SSC). 
 
All five starters for the Eagles found double-digit scoring on the evening, but Lynn shot better than 53-percent from the field and was helped by 26 points from Nordin Kapic to earn the win in the ICI Center. 
 
For the Blue & Gold, it was Malcolm Whitlow once again who led the team in scoring, firing 17 points. His performance was followed by Cameron Shockley-Okeke's 15, Dru Nickson and Michael McCalister's 13 apiece, and Danny Sully's 10-point, 12 rebound game, his fifth double-double on the year. The Eagles' bench outclassed the Knights', scoring 21 points to the visitors' 16. 
 
The night started out like a track meet, with both sides racing up and down the court in a deadlocked game. Lynn took its largest lead of the evening with 16:15 left in the first half, going up 11-7. But a Nickson trey and a Whitlow layup allowed Embry-Riddle to take a lead it would hold for the next 16 minutes of game time. After a Nikola Jerotic free throw at 7:44, ERAU took a seven-point lead, its largest of the night. 
 
At 10:42 in the first, Jerry Bracey II came up with a gigantic steal, feeding it to McCalister for a massive dunk to put the Eagles up six, 25-19, but Lynn would crawl back thanks to solid three-point shooting, never really going away. Later in the frame, Shockley-Okeke finished off a hard-earned and-one in the final minute of the first half to allow the Eagles to head into the locker room with a 45-43 advantage. 
 
The two sides duked it out in the second half, as there were three lead changes in the first two minutes. Shockley-Okeke then had a great personal run with a huge three and yet another dunk for the Eagles to put the home side up 56-50 with the momentum and just over 10 minutes remaining. 
 
A layup from Nickson and a solid midrange jumper from Jon Alessandro then kept the Eagles up by seven points with under nine minutes remaining. Milan Skoric, seeing meaningful minutes off the bench for the second game in a row, knocked home a lengthy three to give ERAU an 80-72 advantage with just 4:07 remaining.
 
But that's when the tide shifted for the Knights. Two dunks and a pair of free throws allowed Lynn to crawl back into the contest, and a jumper from Tradavis Thompson at the one-minute mark tied things up. Neither side could manage a final bucket thanks to solid defense by both.
 
From there in the overtime frame, Whitlow, Nickson and McCalister all found the bottom of the net early, but a late three from Lynn's Jalen Gilmore allowed the Knights to take the lead at 89-87 with just 43 ticks left on the clock. A late Eagle foul left Lynn with the last shot, sinking a layup with just one second left, not enough time for ERAU to get its last shot off for the loss. 
 
Next up, the Eagles will take on SSC foe Palm Beach Atlantic at home in the ICI Center on Wednesday. 
 
 
The 2023-24 Embry-Riddle men's basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.