DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It was one of the more exciting contests of the 2023-24 season for the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team, but ultimately the No. 3-seed Eagles (21-9) fell to seventh-seeded Barry, 73-71, in the Sunshine State Conference Semifinals Thursday night in the ICI Center.
 
ERAU ran into a Barry buzzsaw that has now defeated the SSC's No. 2 and No. 3 consecutively to reach the conference championship on Sunday as the seven seed, ending the Eagles' seven-game win streak. The Eagles now will tune into the NCAA DII Selection Show Sunday night at 11 p.m. to see what lies in store for the rest of the postseason.
 
The Eagles were stout defensively on the night, holding a Barry – a team that netted 107 versus No. 2-seed Florida Southern on Tuesday – to just 38-percent shooting and forcing 11 turnovers of the Bucs. Though the free-throw tally was nearly even, the Eagles fell into foul trouble late, changing the pace and direction of the game; two Eagles fouled out and two more collected four apiece. 
 
It was a back-and-forth affair all game, including right out of the gates with four lead changes in the first four minutes. The Eagles would hold an advantage over the next seven minutes, beginning emphatically with a Cameron Shockley-Okeke dunk to regain the lead, 9-8, with just under 15 minutes to play in the first. Shockley-Okeke made a move to clear a lane to the rim, lighting up the ICI Center crowd. 
 
Malcolm Whitlow, once again the game's leading scorer with 23, continued the kickstart with a long-distance trey to make it 12-8, then Dru Nickson entered the fray and took over, making a nifty move in the paint for a driving bucket, then knocking home two huge threes. Jon Alessandro also added a massive a three from the corner in the run. When the dust settled, ERAU held an 11-point lead, 23-12, at the 11:08 mark. Nickson went for 17 points with five assists, four rebounds and two steals.
 
Barry clawed back in over the next four minutes, eventually tying the game up at 25-25 on a pair of free throws. Whitlow then tied things up at 28-28 with 5:07 left to play, but the Buccaneers went on their own run in the waning minutes of the half. Though the Eagle defense held Barry to just three field goals in the last two minutes, the Bucs held the Eagle attack to just one, making it a 42-34 BU lead at the break, their largest lead of the night overall.
 
Michael McCalister, who was everywhere before foul trouble lurked, opened up the first possession with a bucket in the paint to cut the lead back down to six. McCalister finished with a stout nine points, nine boards and two blocks for ERAU.
 
Whitlow then connected on two jumpers and two free throws to bring the BU lead down to just two, 44-42. After McCalister added a bucket and three shots from the charity stripe, keeping Barry's lead at two, Whitlow and Shockley-Okeke worked together for a nice run to grab the lead. Whitlow sent in another deep three to regain the ERAU lead, 50-49, then after a Shockley-Okeke defensive rebound, he got it to Whitllow down low. Whitlow then returned the favor in style. He got all of a Nick Anderson three-point shot, blocking and taking the rock, finding a streaking Shockley-Okeke for another emphatic dunk to bring the house down and put ERAU up 54-49 with 14:17 to play. Both teams went on a two-plus minute scoring drought after that, but Nickson ended the silence and extended the lead, 56-51 with 11:19 left in the game.
 
Barry, however, pounced on the Eagles' foul troubles late, and stifled the Blue and Gold offense, holding ERAU to just two made buckets over a near four-minute stretch of game, en route a 66-60 lead at the 6:16 mark.
 
Nickson grabbed a steal and fastbreak layup to ease the tide, making it 66-62, then Jerry Bracey II and Nikola Jerotic, both who played tons of minutes along with Alessandro off the bench, each earned hard fouls and connected on their free shots. After Bracey's two free throws at 4:46, Jerotic's free throw at 2:50 was the only scoring until about a minute left. 
 
Again, the Eagle defense played stout basketball, but Barry found itself up 71-66 with just 2:30 to play. Then Milan Skoric drained his lone three on the night, a big one to make it a two point game with 1:10 on the clock. With just 30 seconds left, Bracey earned another hard trip to the free throw line, tying the game up at 71-71. 
 
Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Buccaneers, on their last possession, kept possession off a loose ball under the basket, and called a timeout with just two seconds to play. Immediately off the inbound, Nick Anderson knocked home a long jumper in the wing to make it a 73-71 game with only a second to spare. Though Nickson heaved a pass nearly the length of the court, the Eagles were unable to get a shot off and Barry escaped the ICI Center with the win.
 
At 21-9, the Eagles will await what the future brings on the heels of the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday night at 11 p.m.