WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – In a game that Eagle fans, players and coaches will be talking about for a long time the 16
th-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles earned the 2013 Sun Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament title with a remarkable 91-81 double-overtime victory over the 3
rd-ranked Northwood Seahawks on NU’s home floor on Tuesday night. The Eagles (25-8) secured an automatic bid to the NAIA II Men’s Basketball National Tournament in Point Lookout, Mo. (Mar. 6-12), while the Seahawks (30-3) will most assuredly grab an at-large berth to the 32-team event.
The game featured the two best teams in The Sun Conference over the past several years and was the third time the two squads had met in the conference tournament title game in four seasons, all three going in the Eagles’ favor.
Sophomore DeForest Carter followed the best statistical game of his career on Monday night in which he recorded just the second triple-double in Embry-Riddle history (22 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds), with an incredible performance against Northwood, pouring in a career-high and team season-high 30 points, pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds and dishing out eight assists to lead the Blue and Gold to the 10-point victory. Carter became the single-season record-holder in total assists on Tuesday night, breaking Ryan Rothrock’s 2000-01 record of 242 with an assist on Daniel Kiesling’s jumper with 1:58 to go in the second overtime period. Carter now has 244 assists in 2012-13, averaging 7.4 per contest.
The heavyweight bout started in the home team’s favor as the Seahawks jumped out to a 15-4 lead when Patrick Horstmann hit a jumper with 13:19 left in the first half. The Eagles started just 1-for-11 from the floor before Carter got a runner in the lane at the 12:28 mark to cut the lead to 15-8.
Northwood held a comfortable lead through most of the first frame, going up 24-15 on another Horstmann jumper at the 6:43 mark. However, the visitors finished the half on a 22-6 run, getting three-pointers from Kiesling, Billy Serle and Carter during the span to sprint into the break, up 37-30.
Carter had 12 points in the first to pace the Blue and Gold while Jason Powell held the 2012-13 Sun Conference Player of the Year, Ra’Shad James, scoreless during the first 20 minutes.
The Seahawks came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, going on a 10-2 run to open the second half, retaking the lead at 40-39 on a pair of Tyrone Davis free throws.
Both teams went back-and-forth with each other over the final 20 minutes of regulation, neither team leading by more than four after the Seahawks’ initial run to begin the frame.
Jeremiah Applin came off the bench to hit huge three-pointers for Embry-Riddle, including two in a row around the 13-minute mark. After hitting two straight threes, Applin was fouled twice by Northwood in the act of shooting treys, going 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.
Davis gave his team a two-point lead at 61-59 with a jumper in the paint at the 2:27 mark, and Horstmann increased the advantage to four with two free throws with just 23 seconds showing on the scoreboard.
A pair of free throws from Carter cut the lead to 63-61, and after Davis went just 1-for-2 from the line after he was fouled, the stage was set for the Eagles to attempt a three to send the game to overtime.
With 10 seconds on the clock, Carter dribbled the length of the floor, handing the ball off the Powell on the wing before slipping to the corner where Powell hit him with a pass for the potential game-tying trey. Carter set his feet and drilled the three from the corner as time expired, sending the Eagle crown into a frenzy and the game into an extra frame.
The first over time featured five lead changes, but when Powell hit two free throws with 66 seconds left, the visitors looked like they might escape with the win. However, James, who had been held in check by Powell, got an and-one layup to go and converted the three-point play to knot the score at 73-73.
James had a chance to win it for the Seahawks in the first OT, but great defense by the Eagles pushed him five feet past the three-point line where his attempt was well off the mark, leading to another overtime period.
Senior Daniel Mondragon started the scoring in the final frame with a three-ball off a Carter assist, and Carter followed that with a layup to keep the lead at three. Kiesling’s jumper at 1:58 was the Eagles’ answer to free throws from James and when Mondragon hit his second trey in the second overtime with 1:02 remaining, the Eagles’ free throw shooting did the rest as the Blue and Gold finished 6-for-6 from the line over the last 45 seconds.
Sam Ford accounted for the final with an emphatic dunk with 11 seconds on the clock and as the buzzer sounded the scoreboard showed 91-81 in favor of the visitors.
Carter was joined in double-figures by Applin’s 14 points and Mondragon and Powell’s 12 points each. Embry-Riddle out-rebounded the Seahawks 42-31, shooting 46 percent from the field and 90 percent from the free throw line. The Eagles were 7-for-8 from the floor in overtime and a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.
"I am incredibly proud of the effort and overall desire to make big plays that out guys showed tonight," Head Coach Steve Ridder said. "Tonight, we showed a lot of courage and I think this win has to go down as one of the best we've ever had in the history of our progam. Our seniors deserved this conference championship, they've done everything the right way."
The NAIA will release the 32 qualifiers for the national tournament tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. (EST) and the bracket will be announced at approximately 8 p.m. (EST). The Eagles will be making their 13
th trip to the national tournament after claiming the program’s 10
th conference tournament crown.