SAINT LEO, Fla. – Embry-Riddle men's basketball concluded the regular season with an 88-79 road victory over Saint Leo on Saturday, moving to 13-14 on the season and 10-10 in Sunshine State Conference play.
RECORDS
Embry-Riddle: 13-14 (10-10 SSC)
Saint Leo: 7-21 (2-18 SSC)
GAME NOTES
- Embry-Riddle is now 10-10 against Saint Leo, riding a six-game winning streak over the Lions.
- ERAU is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings against SLU.
KEY PERFORMERS
Embry-Riddle
Saint Leo
- Donovan Hill – 28 pts, 9 reb, 3 stl
- Owen Pawlilkoski – 26 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- Saint Leo opened on a three-minute, 9-0 run for the lead.
- Embry-Riddle responded with a 12-3 run over the next four minutes to level the game, highlighted by three points each from both Dawson Barry and Jared Berry.
- Both teams traded trips down the floor to continue back-and-forth action into a 19-19 score with 9:06 to play.
- The Lions reclaimed control with back-to-back threes before finishing the half with a 42-36 lead, outscoring the Eagles 23-17 in the last nine minutes of play.
- Jack Klinger led the scoring with a 4-for-4 performance for eight points followed by seven points from Berry and six from Milan Skoric.
- Despite being down by six points, ERAU bested SLU in shooting percentage.
- ERAU finished shooting 48.1% (13-of-27) from the field, while SLU shot 39.4% (13-of-33) for the half.
- Three-point shooting fell in favor of the Lions as Saint Leo made eight three-pointers versus Embry-Riddle's four.
Second Half
- An opening three-pointer from Berry followed by a slam dunk from Clarens Pierre at the 18:22 mark cut the ERAU deficit to one point.
- Saint Leo responded with a 10-2 run over the next two minutes to claim a 52-43 advantage.
- Klinger's hook shot at the 16:19 mark sparked a 10-2 ERAU run which cut the deficit to one.
- The Eagles clawed their way to a tied game with nine minutes to play, leveled at 62-62.
- Embry-Riddle captured the lead at the 8:33 mark thanks to a big three-pointer from Braeden Moore.
- The Eagles held control of the lead for the remainder of the game, expanding to a lead as large as 13 points twice in the final stretch of action.
- ERAU finished the final stretch by surpassing SLU with a 26-17 run of scoring, winning 88-79.
- Embry-Riddle's offense improved in the second half, besting the Lions 52-37 in scoring while shooting 67.9% (19-of-28) from the field.
- Berry knocked down 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, adding four assists with Klinger going 5-of-8 from the field to help score 11 points.
INSIDE THE STATS
- ERAU shot 58.2% (32-of-55) from the field, 43.8% (7-of-16) from three, and 65.4% (17-of-26) from the foul line.
- Saint Leo outscored Embry-Riddle 39-21 in three-pointers but the Eagles held the advantage in two-pointers (50-26) and free throws (17-14).
- The Eagles dominated the paint with a 46-18 edge in interior scoring, owning a 37-32 rebounding edge as well.
- Berry led the scoring efforts for ERAU with 24 points and seven assists, followed by Klinger's 19 points and three assists.
- Berry has scored 21 or more points in the last nine games, moving to over 550 points for the season and over 900 for his career.
UP NEXT
Embry-Riddle sets its sights for the SSC Tournament as they are set to travel to Lakeland, Fla. to challenge No. 3-seeded Florida Southern. The sixth-seeded Eagles are set for a 7:30 p.m. ET tip-off on Tuesday, Mar. 3.
