by DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NAIA II No. 7 Embry-Riddle men’s basketball team needed 20 minutes to shake off the rust following a two week break, but exploded in the second half on Tuesday night, claiming the 11th straight victory to open up the 2014-15 season, 82-57 over visiting Valley City State in the finale of the Land of Magic Classic. The Blue and Gold (11-0, 1-0) took a two-point lead into halftime, but surged out of the second half gate on a 24-2 run to send the Vikings (7-8) to their first loss against a NAIA squad since Dec. 5. The Eagles’ 11-0 start is their third-best all-time, behind only the 2000-01 team (12-0) and the 2007-08 squad (13-0).
Celebrating his birthday, sophomore Dalton Barnes led the Eagles with 20 points and five rebounds, while DeForest Carter (Seminole Tribe of Florida)racked up a stat line of 16 points, a career high seven steals, six assists and six rebounds.
Embry-Riddle forced 16 second half Viking turnovers, including 11 in the opening eight minutes of the period as the Eagles took their one possession halftime lead into a 63-41 advantage when Reed Ridder registered a tip-in at the 11:58 mark.
Daniel Kiesling connected on a pair of free throws to open up the final frame, followed by two straight layups from Carter and Barnes before the Eagles forced a 10 second violation before another Carter layup.
Barnes’ triple at the 16:04 mark in the second half pushed the ERAU lead to 51-37 and Carter followed a free throw from Cesar Pastrana with five consecutive points before VCSU finally got on the board in the period on an Ellwood Ellenson free throw after nearly six-minutes of shutout defense by the Eagles.
Barnes tipped in a Joseph Gonzalez miss with 13:43 on the clock and defense once again turned into offense for the hosts when Jason Powell picked off a pass and found a streaking Barnes for a layup and a 23-point cushion at 61-38.
The Eagles kept up the defensive pressure over the next several minutes and a Gonzalez three-pointer pushed the advantage to 28 at 72-44 before it grew even larger on two Powell free throws.
Brian Johnson found Hudson Cadet for a dunk with just under eight minutes left and Bradley Mapes put the exclamation point on the contest with a baseline drive and dunk of his own to cap the Eagle scoring at an 82-57 final.
The Vikings came out physical in the opening half, keeping up with the seventh-ranked Eagles thanks in large part to 21 first half points from Jayden Ferguson. The VCSU freshman connected on eight of his nine first half shot attempts from the field, including a 3-for-4 clip from long range.
The Eagles held a six point lead when Pastrana made good on a Carter assist for a 10-4 ERAU cushion, and after surviving a spurt from VCSU, Carter got a steal and fastbreak layup for a 15-8 Eagle lead with 12:04 left in the first.
Three straight makes from the Eagles at the line gave them a 10 point lead (18-8) and Pastrana’s layup and Ridder’s trey had ERAU in front by its largest margin of the period at 23-8.
Trailing 31-19 with six minutes left in the half, the Vikings finished the half on an 18-8 run to trim the lead to 39-37 at the break.
VCSU shot 57 percent from the floor in the first half, as well as a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line while the Eagles managed 45 percent from the floor and just 57 percent (8-for-14) at the charity stripe. However, the Eagles turned it around drastically in the second half, holding the Vikings to just 24 percent from the floor, including 1-for-8 from long range.
Joining Barnes and Carter in double-figures were Pastrana with 13, Ridder with 12 and Powell with 10. Powell also dished out three assists and recorded three steals with three rebounds.
Ferguson finished with 26 points to lead the Vikings.
Carter moved past former Eagle Blake Touchard on the all-time scoring list (1,426 – 14th) while also moving closer to capturing the all-time career records for assists and steals. Carter trails Ryan Rothrock (660) by eight assists and Tom Fagley (277) by four steals on the career charts. Pastrana moved past Heath Fabacher on the all-time scoring list and now stands alone in 26th with 1,033 career points.
Embry-Riddle hosts the Bahama House Best Western Aku Tiki Shootout (Jan. 2-3) and will take on Grace (Neb.) on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m.
