No. 17 Eagles Upend No. 3 Seahawks 74-63
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The 17th-ranked Embry-Riddle men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to 12 games after registering a 74-63 upset of third-ranked Northwood on the Seahawks’ home court as action continued in The Sun Conference on Saturday.
The Eagles shot 62.5 percent (5-fo-8) from beyond the arc in the first frame, including two three-pointers each by Blake Touchard and Eric Lorenzi, and were 48.1 percent from the field.
Lorenzi started things off offensively for the Eagles, converting on a lay-up for the first basket of the game. Northwood’s Patrick Horstmann answered with a three-pointer to give the Seahawks a 3-2 advantage, but the Eagles used a 7-2 run to take a seven-point lead (12-5) at the 14:25 mark.
The Eagles maintained the seven-point margin until a Lester Hunte lay-up and another Horstmann three pulled the Seahawks within two with 10:18 left in the half. The Eagles managed to surge ahead by six points, but Seahawks, who were 44 percent from the field in the first frame, were able to close the gap once again and claimed their first lead of the night on a three-pointer by Noah Keeton at the three minute mark.
Keeton’s shot enlivened the pro-Northwood crowd, but the Eagles maintained their composure and converted on every offensive opportunity, including two free throws and a lay-up by Ray Graham and a three-pointer and a pair of free throws by Lorenzi, in the last 2:23 to take a 39-33 lead into the intermission.
Northwood went on a 9-5 run to start the second half and quickly tied the game at 44-44. The Eagles countered with a lay-up and a three by Touchard and a Lorenzi jumper to build the lead back up to seven (51-44) with 15:40 left to play.
At the 8:31 mark, Melvin Calhoun’s lay-up put the Seahawks up by one (56-55) and reignited the Northwood crowd. With chants of “defense” resonating off the gym walls, the Eagles turned the ball over and missed a jumper and the Seahawks came up with made free throws on the other end for their largest lead of the night of three points (58-55). Once again the Eagles answered the challenged and pulled ahead 59-58.
With 4:31 left to play, the Eagles were leading by one and had the basketball. Looking to make a pass to one of his teammates, Ray Graham had the ball stolen by Jay Duncan who raced to the basket for what appeared to be an easy two points. But Graham quickly recovered from his mistake and sprinted back on defense to block Duncan’s shot and the rebound was corralled by Touchard. It took Touchard only three seconds to get to the other end of the floor and the sophomore drilled his fourth three of the night to put the Eagles up by four (62-58).
Over the final four minutes, the Seahawks tried to get back in the game with the long-range shot, but they were unable to convert and the Eagles made the most of their free throw opportunities down the stretch to pull out the 11-point win.
Lorenzi scored 12 points in each half and finished with a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds. Graham finished with 14 points and four rebounds and Touchard matched his season-high 18 points, 12 of which were three pointers, to go with two assists and five rebounds.
Horstmann tallied 15 points in the first half but was shut down by the Eagle defense and scored only four points in the second to finish as Northwood’s high scorer with 19.