by By Ryan Mosher | @ryan_mosher
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The second-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles faced one of their stiffest challenges of the season on Saturday afternoon in the NAIA II National Championship quaterfinal round, but the Eagles, as they’ve done all season long, did not get rattled. ERAU (35-1) trailed 59-55 with 9:14 left in the contest, but went on a 14-1 run over the next five minutes to pull away from the Raiders (26-10) for a 79-71 victory.
No. 2 Embry-Riddle advances to the semifinals for the second time in program history where they will take on No. 3 Cornerstone (Mich.) at 8 p.m. (CT) on Monday, March 16, for the right to play for the 2015 NAIA II national title.
Cesar Pastrana had his best game of the tournament on Saturday, scoring 26 points and grabbing eight rebounds, despite playing the majority of the second half with four fouls. Pastrana was 9-for-13 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line to lead the Blue and Gold past SOU.
Eric Thompson, who matched Pastrana’s 26 points, hit a three to put his team up 59-55 with just over nine minute to go, but the Eagles got a big three of their own from Daniel Kiesling from a DeForest Carter (Seminole Tribe of Florida) assist to cut the lead to one.
After a free throw from Joel Spear that made it 60-58, Embry-Riddle went on their biggest run of the season, an 11-0 spurt started by a layup from Dalton Barnes. Pastrana got a nice feed from Carter to give the Eagles the lead for good (62-60) and the next six ERAU points came in the paint, followed by a free throw from Carter to cap the run in favor of the Eagles, 69-60 with 4:09 to play.
Four points from SOU trimmed the lead to 69-64, but the senior from Big Cypress, Fla. would not be denied as Carter got a pass from Barnes and turned it into two points to stop the mini-run and keep the momentum in favor of ERAU.
Pastrana made good on a pair of free throws on the next Eagle possession, but a trey from Thompson made it a 73-67 game with 1:40 on the clock.
A couple of free throws from the Raiders cut the lead ti 73-69, but again Pastrana was up to the task at the charity stripe, sinking both of his shots from the line to increase the Eagle lead back to six.
Carter came up with his fifth steal of the day by stripping Thompson of the ball, running the length of the court before dropping the ball off for Jason Powell who put finishing touches on the game with a layup and two free throws with 11 seconds left.
The first 30 minutes were a back-and-forth affair as neither team held a lead more than four points. Carter gave the Eagles a slim, 38-36 lead at the break on a pair of free throws, but it was SOU who tied it up on their first possesion in the second half on two Ben Desaulnier free throws.
Embry-Riddle looked like it might pull away at the start of the second period, going in front, 44-38 after a Pastrana lay in, but whistles started to slow the ERAU momentum as the Eagles were whistled for the first seven fouls of the second half and the Raiders made the Eagles pay at the free throw line.
Pastrana and Kiesling were both forced out of the game around the 16-minute mark when they picked up four fouls each and that’s when the Raiders made their run to go up four at 59-55.
Joining Pastrana in double-figures were Barnes with 14, Carter with 11 and Kiesling with 10. Carter dished out 11 assists and recorded five steals and four rebounds for ERAU. Carter broke his own single-season record for assists and now has 251 this season. He also moved past Tyler DeBord for fifth on the all-time scoring list and has 1,773 for his career.
As a team the Eagles shot 51 percent from the field and 90 percent (18-for-20) from the free throw line. ERAU also outrebounded the Raiders, 32-25 and held SOU to 46 percent from the floor.
ERAU will be playing in its second national semifinal, the first coming in 2000 when the Eagles claimed the national title. Cornerstone has played in five national semifinals previously with two national championships (1999, 2011).
