BOCA RATON, Fla. – For the third time in the last four years, the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team will finish with at least 20 wins, as the Eagles (20-8, 14-6 SSC) capped off the regular season in style, overpowering the Lynn Fighting Knights, 94-85, on Saturday for their sixth consecutive win. ERAU has locked in the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Sunshine State Conference Tournament to begin post season play.
 
In a pure game between two good SSC squads, the Eagles looked every bit as dominant as their now six-game win streak would back up. Incredibly, the whole team played as a unit with six players reaching double-digit scoring on the night. ERAU shot nearly 53-percent from the field (36-68) and 45-percent from behind the arc (10-22) and held Lynn to 50-percent and 40-percent. Both teams rebounded well, with the Eagles holding a 34-30 advantage. 
 
The Eagles were hot on the offensive glass, out rebounding Lynn 11-8 in that category; two of them came off errant free throws, both resulting in five points on second-chance shots. And neither side elected to turn the ball over frequently as the two teams combined for just 15 turnovers.
 
Cameron Shockley-Okeke was lights-out for ERAU, going 8-10 from the floor, 2-4 from long range, for 18 points, and he added six rebounds. Malcolm Whitlow garnered 17 points, adding three dimes and four rebounds. The two threes he connected on were at big moments when things were close. 
 
Nikola Jerotic was still feeling the energy from senior night and went off for 11 points and five boards, while Jerry Bracey II added 12 tough points on 5-8 shooting and three rebounds. Along with Milan Skoric (3-4 from behind the arc), the bench put together a great night with 34 points. 
 
Lynn marched out to an early lead in the first half, finding themselves up 12-7 after a Nordin Kapic layup at the 15:40 mark. But after Jerotic drew a 1-and-1 opportunity, he made the front end. The second shot bounced short, but Shockley-Okeke made like a bandit to get the rebound and quickly fire it to Whitlow who drained a three to pull within one at 12-11.
 
Skoric, who finished the regular season as the NCAA II's most efficient three-point shooter in 2023-24, gave ERAU the lead a couple of minutes later with the first of his three three-pointers, making it 20-18. Nickson immediately rebounded the next Lynn shot and took it all the way home to make it 22-18 at the 11:50 mark.
 
The game then saw six lead changes over the next six minutes as both sides efficiently went back-and-forth in a track meet. Eventually, a Bracey layup followed by a Nickson trey put the Eagles up 39-35 with 5:08 to play. Nickson then added a deep three a couple of minutes later to extend the lead to seven, 49-42, before Lynn made a run to cut the halftime lead to 49-46.
 
Out of the break, Michael McCalister, who finished with 10 points on the night, sank two shots in rapid succession to break a tie after a Brad McCabe three to open the second half. Shockley-Okeke went on a tear next, going 3-for-3 in the next three possessions to put ERAU up 61-53 at 15:12. McCalister then extended the lead to 10 in the next possession, but Lynn fought back to cut the lead to five, 67-62, on a McCabe three. McCabe finished 5-7 from deep, over half of Lynn's made three pointers. 
 
Jon Alessandro added a pair of free throws off a hard foul in the paint, then Jerotic escalated things more with a defensive rebound and baseline-to-baseline play for the lay-in to make it 71-62. Nickson later drew a fastbreak foul and connected on both shots, and a pretty Whitlow drive made it 75-67 with 9:00 left on the clock.
 
Whitlow drew another hard foul and converted the layup for an and-one, then Skoric sent one in from deep, followed by two McCalister free throws quickly make it an 86-69 advantage for the visitors, the largest lead of the night with just six and a half minutes to play.
 
Lynn attempted a run in the waning moments of the fast and physical game, but the Embry-Riddle defense was too much in the end for the Knights to overcome. Shockley-Okeke and Whitlow added two layups with less than a minute to play to allow the Eagles to escape unscathed, 94-85.
 
Up next the Eagles will begin post season play in the SSC Tournament on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the ICI Center.