LAKELAND, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team erased an 11-point deficit to down Florida Southern 102-92 on the road on Saturday. The Eagles, who completed the season sweep of the Moccasins and hit the century mark for the fifth time this season, improved their overall record to 15-9, while the Moccasins dropped to 10-16.
Dalton Barnes eclipsed the career-high scoring mark he set earlier this season, tallying a game-high 32 points to lead six ERAU players who scored in double figures in the contest, including
Ognjen Miljkovic (21 pts.),
Reed Ridder (14 pts.), Dillion Graham (12 pts.),
Daniel Kiesling (11 pts.) and Skylar Hogan (10 pts.). Barnes just missed recording a double-double with nine boards to lead an Eagle squad that out-rebounded the Moccasins 42-32.
The Eagles fell behind early as Florida Southern raced out to a 13-2 lead. The Moccasins, who attempted 775 three-pointers coming into Saturday's game, were hot from beyond the arc early, shooting a blistering 62.5 percent (10-16) from long range in the first 20 minutes.
Trailing by eight with 15 minutes left in the first half, the Eagles scored five unanswered to cut the Moccasin lead to three. FSC responded with Dylan Travis who scored 14 points, including four threes, in the last 11 minutes of the half to lead the home team to a 49-42 advantage at the intermission.
Another three-pointer by Travis widened the margin to 10 points (55-45) early in the second frame. At the 17-minute mark, Barnes knocked down a pair of free throws and on the next Moccasin possession, Graham stripped Tyler Ross and found Ridder who drilled a three to make it a five-point game.
A Florida Southern timeout did nothing to slow the Eagles down as a Kiesling layup, followed by back-to-back scores by Barnes gave the visitors their first lead of the night (57-55) with 14:40 left to play.
The Blue and Gold grew the lead to four, but the Moccasins managed to overtake the Eagles again and held a 60-59 edge at the 13:48 mark.
Over the next five minutes, both sides went back and forth, trading the lead in the process.
With 3:18 showing on the clock, Barnes finished a pass from Kiesling. That basket put the Eagles back in front by one (91-90) and from that point they never looked back. Another Barnes layup made it a three-point (93-90) game and Kiesling's only three of night made a two-possession game with under a minute left to play.
The Moccasin offense went cold, managing just one field goal in the last 3:18, while the Eagles came up with two key steals and were 6-for-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the win.
Travis finished with 29 points and nine boards, while Trey Moore added 19 points and seven assists in the loss.
The Eagles will host Barry at the ICI Center on Wednesday in the final home game of the 2015-16 season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
