DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Celebrating its six-member senior class on Wednesday night, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team took care of business and outlasted Barry, 91-82, in the ICI Center in front of nearly 1,000 fans. The Eagles (19-8, 13-6 SSC) picked up their fifth win in a row, and eighth out of the last nine contests. 
 
In a deviation from the normal starting lineup, head coach Steve Ridder and ERAU opted to start five seniors – David Velasco, Malcolm Whitlow, Calvin Freeman II, Jon Alessandro and Danny Sully – for their final tour of home court in the regular season. Nikola Jerotic worked from off the bench all night as well, as the six graduating Eagles spurred their squad to victory.
 
The five starters played the game's first eight minutes of action and pounced on the Bucs early to set the tone. All five Eagles found the bottom of the net early; Velasco rung up the Eagles' first points to tie it at 2-2, then Whitlow hit his first of four three-pointers, followed by back-to-back layups from Sully, two long threes from Freeman II, and a lay-in from Alessandro. By the time they checked out for the first time all game, ERAU was up with tons of momentum, 17-7 with just over 12 minutes to play.
 
For the third time this season, Whitlow registered 30 points, leading both teams in scoring. The Lincoln, Neb., native went 11-for-20, including 4-of-9 from deep, adding a season-best seven boards to go along with four assists. Velasco finished his evening with two points, two assists and a rebound; Freeman added six points off his two three-balls and a rebound and a steal; Alessandro – who earned his second start this year – wound up with two points, two assists, two steals and four rebounds, everywhere on the court; Sully worked for 27 minutes, picking up eight points and four rebounds and a block; Jerotic played 13 minutes and collected seven points on 3-of-3 shooting.
 
After the switch from the senior crew, Jerry Bracey II kept the momentum rolling, putting the Eagles up 19-7. The Buccaneers saw their first glimpse of life soon after, however, pulling within five at 19-14 with 9:13 left to play in the first. Bracey knocked down two more free throws, before Cameron Shockley-Okeke knocked home his first points of the evening with a deep three to go back up eight points, 24-16. 
 
Barry kept threatening the Eagles' lead, but Milan Skoric, who is a few made buckets away from being NCAA Division II's most prolific three-point artist this season, stopped the Bucs flow with a big-time three to take a 27-22 lead at 6:43. But again, BU scurried back to within one a few possession later.
 
Skoric added another trey minutes later, then Whitlow grabbed a nice jumper off a great Michael McCalister feed, followed by a dunk from Sully that brought fire to the ICI Center, giving the Eagles a 36-30 advantage with under three minutes in the frame. 
 
With just 42 seconds left in the half, the Bucs took their first lead of the night, 40-39, but after a Whitlow traditional three-point play regained the lead, Bracey, with just three ticks left, ran half the court and sent up a floater to beat the buzzer, putting ERAU up 44-40 at the break.
 
Sully added a bucket on the other side of halftime to make it 46-40, but what followed was the first of eight lead changes in the half, in a tightly-contested SSC game. Barry made good on a couple of threes to take a 49-48 lead at the 17:32 mark, and again to go up 52-50. But Shockley-Okeke put on for his fellow upperclassmen, knocking home a three from the wing to go up 53-52, quieting the roar and Buc momentum.
 
Jerotic again put the Eagles ahead at the 12:32 mark with a tough jumper in the paint, but Barry used a couple of more deep shots to go on a run. Over the next six minutes, the Bucs held the lead – by as much as six points – and much of the energy. 
 
But after a huge run from McCalister down the court on a fast break, the Eagles were back in striking distance, down just 74-72. From there, Whitlow rained down another three to give ERAU its lead back. Barry took a 77-75 lead right after, but Whitlow was heating up by that time and dropped a pair of shots, and assisted on another Skoric three to go up 80-77 with 3:35 left in the game. 
 
Barry continued to try and connect on deep threes for the rest of the game, but the Blue & Gold defense put its foot down and held the Bucs to just five points over the games' final six minutes. Dru Nickson connected on a pair of free throws, McCalister added another deep three, while Skoric and Whitlow finished off the Bucs with three shots from the charity stripe to eventually lead ERAU to its 91, 82 victory.
 
Up next, the Eagles head to Lynn for the regular season finale on Saturday, with the third and fourth seeds on the line for the upcoming SSC Tournament. 
 
 
The 2023-24 Embry-Riddle men's basketball season is presented by Daytona Kia.