by LAKE WALES, Fla. – Led by DeForest Carter (Seminole Tribe of Florida) 19 points and Dalton Barnes(18 points), the Embry-Riddle men’s basketball team pulled away for an 82-71 victory at Warner on Wednesday night. With the win, ERAU improves to 14-0 on the season which marks the best start ever in school history. The Eagles are also 2-0 in Sun Conference action in 2014-15.
Along with Carter’s 19 points and Barnes’ 18, Cesar Pastrana and Jason Powell each reached double-figures in scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Pastrana also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Daniel Kiesling chipped in nine points and seven boards while Reed Ridder added five points and eight assists.
Warner (10-2, 0-2) was led by Eddie Delegal’s game-high 24 points and Warren Hall’s 19 points and nine rebounds. Antonio Ansley scored 11 points and Keevis Tukes tallied four assists and a game-high seven steals.
The Blue and Gold got off to a solid start, pulling out to a 9-5 lead in the opening minutes. The lead was short-lived, however, as Warner took a 10-9 lead on a Hall three-pointer just over four minutes into the contest.
A Delegal triple increased the Royal lead to double-digits (26-16) with 11:21 to play in the first half, and Warner would maintain a comfortable lead until the closing minutes of the period. Carter knocked down a three with just under a minute to play before halftime and then ended the half with a steal and a slam dunk to cut the deficit to 44-40.
After trailing at the half for the first time this season, Embry-Riddle came out in the second half and dominated the game’s final 20 minutes. The Eagles allowed Warner to shoot 60-percent in the first half before limiting the home team to just 21.9% shooting in the second period.
It took ERAU just 90 seconds into the second half to regain the lead on a Kiesling layup, which gave the Eagles a 45-44 advantage. The lead grew to 11 on a Barnes layup that made it a 61-50 game with 11:26 to play.
Warner cut the deficit to as little as five points (64-59), but the Blue and Gold didn’t allow the Royals to get any closer. A triple from Joseph Gonzalez reestablished a double-digit lead (71-59) with 7:33 to play and a layup from Jason Powell pushed it to 76-61 with only 4:33 left.
The Royals weren’t able to close the gap over the game’s final minutes as ERAU cruised to an 11-point victory, 82-71.
The Eagles return home on Saturday, Jan. 10 to host Ave Maria in another Sun Conference matchup. The women’s game is slated for a 5 p.m. tip-off and will be followed by the men’s game against Ave Maria at approximately 7 p.m.
