DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Embry-Riddle men's basketball hosted Tampa inside the ICI Center on Saturday evening for a Sunshine State Conference bout, dropping the contest 107-87 despite a strong opening in the second half.

The Eagles were down 15 after the first 20 minutes and opened the second half with a 14-2 run, but the Spartans were too much to handle down the stretch.

RECORDS
Embry-Riddle: 8-8 (5-4 SSC)
Tampa: 10-6 (4-5 SSC)
 
GAME NOTES

• Embry-Riddle is now 11-12 all-time versus Tampa.
• The Eagles are 6-4 in the last 10 meetings.
• ERAU remains in fourth in SSC standings while Tampa is tied for sixth with Eckerd.

KEY PERFORMERS

Embry-Riddle

• Jared Berry – 24 pts, 3 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl
• Jack Klinger – 19 pts, 3 blk, 3 ast
• Logan Lewis – 15 pts, 2 stl

Tampa

• Trey Lane – 44 pts, 7 reb, 4 stl, 3 ast
• Trent Scott – 15 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half
 

• Tampa scored five unanswered points over the opening three and a half minutes.
• After some back-and-forth action, the Eagles went on a 7-3 scoring spurt to pull the deficit to 13-12 with 14:02 on the clock, thanks to back-to-back slam dunks from Jack Klinger.
• The Spartans stunned the Eagles with a huge momentum shift, scoring 22 unanswered points over the course of six minutes for a 35-12 advantage.
• Embry-Riddle chipped away at the Tampa lead with a 10-2 scoring stretch capped by a fast break score from Evan Montanari and another slam from Klinger.
• Tampa remained in control of a double-figure advantage for the remainder of the half as both teams finished with an 18-18 split down the stretch.
• The Spartans closed the first half with a 55-40 lead, taking advantage from beyond the arc with 42.1% (8-for-19) shooting while the Eagles shot just 3-for-11 from deep.
• Klinger led the scoring efforts for ERAU with 12 points and 5-for-5 shooting.

Second Half

• A pair of three-pointers from Jared Berry helped spark a 14-2 run for a rejuvenated Embry-Riddle side, cutting the deficit to 57-54 in the first four minutes.
• An and-one as well as a long three from Logan Lewis capped off the energetic run.
• Tampa responded with a 13-4 run of its own to move back into control of a double-digit advantage.
• The Eagles fought back to pull the deficit to single digits with a 10-7 stretch of scoring, capped by three-pointers from Berry and Braeden Moore.
• After the surge, Tampa slowly returned to a double-digit lead and did not look back.
• The Spartans finished the half outscoring the Eagles 32-19 and posting a 53-47 scoring edge in the half to win 107-87.
• Berry scored 19 points for the Eagles, but that wasn't enough for a comeback chance as Tampa's Trey Lane added 24 to his tally on 7-for-10 shooting.

INSIDE THE STATS

• Embry-Riddle finished shooting 44.8% (30-for-67) from the field, 40% (10-for-25) from three, and 77.3% (17-for-22) from the foul line.
• Four Eagles players scored in double figures with Berry leading the way with 24 points and four assists.
• Klinger finished with 19 points and 8-for-9 shooting while Lewis scored his second best of the year with 15 points.
• Montanari rounded out with 13 points.
• Berry has scored 20-plus points for the fourth-consecutive game.
• Klinger has scored in double figures for the eighth straight game, scoring 19 points in back-to-back contests.
• The longball was one of the difference makers as Tampa outscored Embry-Riddle 48-30 from beyond the arc.
• Tampa's bench put together a strong 57-25 edge in scoring.

UP NEXT

The Eagles return to action on Wednesday night with a road trip to Rollins in Winter Park, Fla. for a 7:30 p.m. ET tip-off.