DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Embry-Riddle men's basketball put together a convincing performance over Trinity College of Jacksonville, securing a 102-73 win in the ICI Center. It was a battle of the birds on Wednesday night, as the Eagles (3-3) of Daytona Beach overcame a hot start from the visiting Eagles (4-4) with dominance on the glass and all 11 players finding the scoring column.
Six Eagles reached double figures in scoring for ERAU, highlighted by a 10-point, 14-rebound double-double outing from
Clarens Pierre.
RECORDS
Embry-Riddle: 3-3 (1-0 SSC)
Trinity College of Jacksonville: 4-4 (1-0 NCCAA II South)
GAME NOTES
- Wednesday's meeting was the first since 1992 and fourth all-time.
- Embry-Riddle leads 4-0 in the series.
- Trinity College played the game as an exhibition as a member of the NCCAA II South Region.
KEY PERFORMERS
Embry-Riddle
Trinity College of Jacksonville
- Diego Fernandez – 25 pts, 4 ast
- Alex Dawson – 18 pts, 4 reb
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- Trinity College opened with a hot 11-6 run to stun Embry-Riddle early, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from Alex Dawson.
- Jared Berry scored the first four points for ERAU with a Jack Klinger slam dunk for the Eagles' third bucket.
- A jumper from Berry and a trey from Dawson Barr cut the deficit to three with 15 minutes remaining, however a 13-5 run from TCJ boosted the Eagles' deficit to 27-16 with less than 12 to play.
- Embry-Riddle went on a tear in response, scoring 12 unanswered with a pair of long-range jumpers from Braeden Moore to lead 28-27.
- TCJ hit a trey to reclaim the lead, but the advantage was short-lived as Embry-Riddle rattled off back-to-back threes to spark a 13-2 surge for a 41-32 lead.
- The Eagles finished with a 7-5 stretch of scoring in the final minutes to keep in control of the score with a 48-37 edge at the half.
- ERAU shot 44.4% from the field, 47% from three with eight made threes, and perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line in the first half.
Second Half
- Embry-Riddle put the pedal down in the second half with 16 unanswered points to extend the margin to 64-37 within the first three minutes.
- ERAU never led by fewer than 25 points the rest of the way, outscoring Trinity College 54-36 after halftime to coast to the 102-73 victory.
- ERAU's depth proved to be crucial in the second half as the Eagles' bench outscored Trinity's 22-10.
INSIDE THE STATS
- Balanced scoring from Embry-Riddle lifted the hosts to victory with six of the 11 scorers totaling double-digit points.
- Berry dished out a career-high nine assists while adding 12 points in the process.
- Pierre put together his second career double-double performance, scoring 10 and snagging 14 boards.
- ERAU dominated off the glass with a 53-30 rebounding advantage with 19 on the offensive end of the floor.
- 38 points came from inside the pain for Embry-Riddle with the Eagles holding a 22-2 edge in second chance points.
- The Eagles bench produced 42 points, compared to 13 from TCJ.
UP NEXT
Embry-Riddle will travel to No. 1-ranked Nova Southeastern to resume conference play on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.
