DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team took care of business on Tuesday in the Sunshine State Conference Quarterfinals, defeating six-seeded Florida Tech, 75-61, and thanks to a little bit of bracket madness, will host the Semifinals on Thursday in the ICI Center. ERAU picked up its seventh consecutive victory, and 10^th win in the last 11 games. 
 
The Eagles (21-8, 14-6 SSC) were up to the challenge against the Panthers (16-12, 9-11 SSC), despite a pair of close regular season games between the two. Tuesday's contest was not the same shade as ERAU ran away from the outset. 
 
ERAU, led once again by leading scorer Malcolm Whitlow, shot nearly 60-percent efficiency  in the first half to open up a 41-28 frame, and ended up shooting 52-percent overall, to FIT's 43.1-percent. 
 
Whitlow, finished with 21 points, led an Eagle attack that was only outshined by the tough defense the squad displayed. Cameron Shockley-Okeke (10 points, 6 rebounds) got things rolling early with two huge back-to-back threes when FIT was humming from the opening tip. The game was as fast and physical in the early going as their last outing, a win over Lynn in the final regular season game. 
 
After Shockley-Okeke tied things at 6-6 just a couple of minutes into the game, the Eagles never relinquished a lead, going up by as much as 25 points at times during the Quarterfinal matchup. Whilow and Michael McCalister (11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists) extended the lead, and then Dru Nickson (7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists) connected on a hard-earned traditional three-pointer to make it 16-10 at the 12:51 mark. 
 
Next, the bench came on and kept the pace high. Two Jerry Bracey II (10 points, 2 rebounds) nifty layups sandwiched a Jon Alessandro (5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) three-pointer to really set the edge. 
 
Whitlow, Bracey and Nikola Jerotic (4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks) carried the next few possessions offensively and defensively, tightening up on a solid Florida Tech offense. Jerotic went back-to-back lay-ins to make it 35-22 with just 3:44 left in the half. Whitlow scored the final six points of the half to give ERAU its 41-24 lead at the break, and an initial three in the opening minutes of the second to make it a 20-point game, 44-24.
 
Whitlow, McCalister and Shockley-Okeke teamed up for the next run, extending the lead to 25 points (58-33), then Nickson added another bucket to push it to 60-35. FIT cut the lead down to 18 midway through the half, but Milan Skoric (the NCAA's most efficient three-point shooter in the country) knocked home his lone three of the night to slam the door on any hope for a Panther comeback. 
 
After the starters were sat in favor of the senior bench, David Velasco hit the final Eagle bucket of the night under a minute left, making it 75-58. An and-one for Niall Harris gave FIT its final 61^st point, but it was far too late as the Eagles had secure the trip to the Semifinals. 
 
Up next, ERAU will host seventh-seeded Barry on Thursday in the ICI Center..