by THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Embry-Riddle men’s basketball team saw its undefeated 2014-15 season come to an end on Tuesday night as the Thomas Night Hawks handed ERAU a 77-70 loss. The Blue and Gold fell to 17-1, 5-1 in league play, while TU improved to 12-5, 3-4 in conference.
DeForest Carter (Seminole Tribe of Florida)led the Eagles with 22 points, 11 of which came via free throws, in addition to dishing out a game-high six assists and grabbing five rebounds. Dalton Barnes registered a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 boards while Cesar Pastrana chipped in eight points and 10 rebounds.
Alan Love poured in a game-high 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting for TU and also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Adonai Rogers (15 points), Rodney Sturkie (11 points) and Max Grace (10 points) all contributed double-digit scoring numbers for the Night Hawks, while TJ Rines tallied a team-high five assists and scored five points.
The game opened up as a tight contest, with neither side able to pull away by any margin larger than three for the first eight-plus minutes. A Rogers layup with 11:18 to play in the half gave TU a 16-11 lead, the largest of the game at the time.
Thomas went on a 6-0 run over a two-and-a-half minute span to increase its lead to 26-17 with 7:22 left in the period, which would prove to be the largest lead of the half.
The Eagles clawed back and with 1:25 to play in the half, a Pastrana free throw tied things up at 31. Barnes scored a layup with 16 seconds on the clock that pushed ERAU in front, 34-33, and the Blue and Gold would carry that one-point lead into the locker room.
ERAU wasted no time in building on their one-point halftime lead, as the Eagles scored the first six points of the second half to jump out to a 40-33 lead. Embry-Riddle maintained a lead for most of the second half, holding a 63-62 advantage with just 3:06 to play.
TU’s defense picked up its effort down the stretch, limiting the Eagles to just two made field goals over the final 11:32. The Night Hawks took the lead with 2:20 to play on a three from Rines, putting the home team in front, 65-63. Thomas didn’t look back, scoring six straight points from there to pull out to an eight-point lead (71-63) with just over a minute left, eventually closing out the game on a 16-7 run to win, 77-70.
Thomas outshot the Eagles from the floor, 46.6% to 37.7%, but it was the free throw line where ERAU left points on the table, converting 27-of-40 free throws (67.5%), while TU was 20-of-27 (74.1%). Embry-Riddle also committed more turnovers (16) than assists (14) for just the second time this season.
The Eagles return home to host Johnson & Wales in another Sun Conference doubleheader on Thursday, Jan. 22. The women will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. with the men slated for a 7:30 p.m. start.
