by by Ryan Mosher | @ryan_mosher, ERAU Athletics
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – Dalton Barnes scored 22 and the second-ranked Eagles trailed just once in a 76-47 win over Friends (Kan.) in the opening round of the 2015 NAIA II Men’s Basketball National Championship on Wednesday afternoon. Embry-Riddle (33-1) broke the program record for wins in a season with its 33rd victory, shooting 52 percent from the field and holding Friends to a season-low 47 points to move on to the second round.
ERAU will take on No. 15 Union (Ky.) on Friday, March 13 at 10:15 a.m. (CT). The Bulldogs (30-4) came away with a 64-58 win over Northwestern Ohio on Thursday morning at Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks.
The Eagles got their scoring started with a triple and never looked back, jumping out to a 6-2 lead thanks to a pair of threes from DeForest Carter (Seminole Tribe of Florida) and Barnes.
Around the 14-minute mark of the first half the Eagles went on a quick, 6-0 spurt thanks to a couple of turnovers forced by Daniel Kiesling and the ERAU full court press. The six points pushed the lead to 14-4, but the Falcons quickly answered with back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to 16-10 with 11:17 to go in the first period.
Barnes, who scored 17 of his 22 points in the opening period made a fantastic play with 3:20 left, attacking the rim, making the bucket and earning the foul as the Eagles enjoyed a 29-17 lead.
Carter found Cesar Pastrana under the hoope for an and-one opportunity after the Cartagena, Colombia native made the easy layup and was fouled, growing the advantage to 38-19 with less than a minute to go in the period.
Toby Baxter hit a runner at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 38-21 at the break for the Falcons, but the top-ranked Eagles enjoyed their first lead at the half since Feb. 21 at Johnson & Wales.
The second half featured more of the same for the Eagles as Embry-Riddle pushed the lead to 20 thanks to a Reed Ridder jumper with 16:22 left in regulation.
The Falcons couldn’t seem to solve the Eagle defense as they finished just 29 percent from the floor for the game and only 20 percent from long range.
Embry-Riddle owned the boards, outrebounding the Falcons 39-27, including 11 offensive rebounds. Barnes finished with nine rebounds to go along with his 22 points while Pastrana had 15 points and six rebounds. Joseph Gonzalez was the only other Eagle in double-figures with 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting. He and Pastrana did not miss a field goal in the contest, combining for a 9-for-9 clip.
The 29-point final margin was the second-biggest for Embry-Riddle in the national tournament. The Eagles improved to 16-13 overall in the national tournament and 10-5 in the opening round.
