DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team led Eckerd wire-to-wire on Wednesday night in the ICI Center, but the Eagles' victory over the Tritons wasn't without second-half drama to make it interesting. ERAU (3-2, 1-0 SSC) picked up its first conference win on the evening, outlasting EC (1-3, 0-2 SSC), 80-70.
 
Thanks to suffocating defense and respectable 58-percent shooting in the first half, the Eagles led by 14 at the break, 44-30. Every Eagle who entered the game registered a made bucket on the night, with all 10 finding success in the first half alone. Jerry Bracey II (14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) got things going with the game's first bucket, then Yassin Hussein (team-high 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) followed suit with back-to-back lay ins. 
 
Dru Nickson (6 points, 3 assists) and Jared Berry (9 points, 2 rebounds) each got into the mix early as well, then Logan Lewis made a nifty drive to the paint to put ERAU up 10 at 22-12. Eckerd used free throws to maintain their scoring in the first half, but then a quadruplet of free throws from Michael McCalister (10 points, 7 rebounds), and a big three from Milan Skoric (12 points, 4 rebounds) eventually extended the lead further, before EC connected on a three to cut the Eagle lead to 14 near the clock's expiration.
 
To start the second half, the Eagles were electric, connecting on five of their first six shots, including a pair of Skoric threes, and taking a commanding 56-34 lead. Bracey and Hussein then added onto the lead before a massive Clarens Pierre (4 points, 2 steals, block) alley-oop finish from Nickson, and Skoric's fourth three of the half, gave the Eagles a seemingly insurmountable 65-35 advantage with under 14 minutes to play. The 24-6 run ended just as a dry spell of 10 minutes plagued the Blue & Gold.
 
ERAU made just one basket (1-for-13) from the 12-minute to the 3-minute mark, but maintained an 11-point lead thanks to free throws during the foul fest. Embry-Riddle's 18-of-22 night from the charity stripe proved to be the separator. EC clawed its way back to within eight points with a minute left in the game, but Bracey, McCalister and Hussein all went perfect at the line down the stretch to keep the Eagles ahead and eventually in the win column. 
 
After the win, ERAU will stay in conference play for one more as Barry comes to town on Saturday at 6 p.m. After that, the Eagles will host Fort Lauderdale (Nov. 27) and Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (Nov. 30) around the Thanksgiving holiday.