by By Ryan Mosher | @ryan_mosher
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The second-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles turned a two-point lead into a 14-point win over the last 11 minutes of their 2015 NAIA II Men’s Basketball National Championship second round contest against No. 15 Union (Ky.), downing the Bulldogs 89-75 on Friday afternoon. The Eagles (34-1) advance to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in program history and will face the winner of Grace (Ind.) and Southern Oregon on Saturday at 3 p.m. (CT).
The Eagles put five players in double-figures led by Dalton Barnes‘ 21 points and DeForest Carter‘s 20, while Carter set a career-high with 13 assists in the win.
Embry-Riddle led 47-41 at the break thanks to a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Reed Ridder, and the Blue and Gold went up by eight when Ridder made good on a jumper to start the second period.
Union hung around with the Eagles, cutting the lead to two on a couple of occasions in the second half, the final time on a dunk by Gerrard Newby with 11:27 left that made the score 57-55 in favor of the Eagles.
Embry-Riddle responded.
The Eagles went on an 8-0 run to go back up double-digits when Jason Powell made good on his only three of the day after a huge offensive rebounds by Daniel Kiesling. The spurt started with a Barnes and-one conversion and was extended by two free throws from Cesar Pastrana before Powell’s trey.
After a basket by the Bulldogs that cut the lead to 65-57 with just over nine minutes left, Carter (Seminole Tribe of Florida) was left alone behind the arc and drilled a three to push the Eagle lead back to 11 at 68-57.
Embry-Riddle held a couple possession lead over the next few moments, but a three from the Bulldogs trimmed their deficit to 71-64 with 5:18 to go. Kiesling responded with a long range make of his own and the Eagles were able to answer bucket for bucket against Union as Barnes came back with a jumper in the paint after a tip-in by Union with four minutes remaining.
After another Barnes make in the paint the Eagles got a big stop thanks to a turnover where Barnes found Carter after a steal and The Sun Conference Player of the Year put the exclamation mark on the contest with a fastbreak slam that grew the ERAU cushion to 80-66 with just 2:19 left on the clock.
Powell went 3-for-4 at the free throw line following a foul and technical on the UC bench to make the lead 21 at 88-67 and the Eagles cruised the final 70 seconds to the win.
In the first half the Eagles and Bulldogs battled back and forth with impressive offensive precision as both squads shot over 50 percent, including ERAU’s 62.1 percent clip from the floor.
A Barnes’ Jumer with 15:24 left in the first gave the Eagles an 11-10 lead and after a free throw from Carter the Bulldogs tied it up for the final time of the game on a Newby layup.
Embry-Riddle went on a 7-0 run capped by a Barnes fastbreak layup and Carter found Joseph Gonzalez on a fastbreak a few moments later and the junior drilled a triple to push the ERAU lead to 22-15.
The Blue and Gold held a minimum of a two possession lead for the nearly the remainder of the period, going up by nine at 36-27 on another Gonzalez three, but the Bulldogs stormed back to cut the lead to 36-34 when Fitzgerald White registered a three.
After a a Barnes’ three that gave ERAU a 44-37 advantage Union went on a 4-0 run only to be answered by Ridder’s last-second three to end the half.
For the game the Eagles shot 61 percent from the field and 53 percent from long range, outrebounding the Bulldogs 34-32. Joining Barnes and Carter in double-figures were Ridder (12), Gonzalez (12) and Pastrana (11).
Carter moved past Jeff Moore (1990-94) on the all-time scoring list, and now stands sixth all-time with 1,762 career points, just four behind Tyler DeBord (2005-09) for fifth on the charts.
