DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- Malcolm Whitlow scored a game-high 23 points, including 16 in the second half to lead the Embry-Riddle men's basketball team to an 80-70 win over Tusculum Saturday afternoon at the ICI Center.
The host Eagles (9-2) record their third consecutive victory, while the Pioneers (5-4) have lost three straight over the last four days.
Tusculum's Justin Mitchell scored a team-high 17 points, while Inady Legiste recorded his seventh double-double in a row with 10 points and 10 rebounds. TU's Joshua Scott went a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor for his eight points, while KJ Crump and Kyle Brown tallied eight markers each as well.
Whitlow also dished out four assists and made three steals in his 34 minutes of action. Chris Murray tallied 14 points and seven rebounds, while Jack Dillard contributed 10 points off the bench.
ERAU led 9-3 in the opening 4:53 of the contest as the Pioneers hit its opening shot, but missed seven straight. Crump ended the drought with a three-points and Scott hit a jumper to cut the deficit to one (9-8) with 13:27 left in the half.
Embry-Riddle pushed the lead back to six at 16-10, but the Pioneers went on an 11-5 run to tie the game at 21-21. The run was sparked by five points from Brown and capped off by a Jalen Crowder jumper in the paint at the 6:30 mark.
ERAU responded with eight straight points in a 1:16 span as Jared Berry scored in the paint for a 29-21 lead at the 5:14 mark of the frame. The Eagles extended the lead to nine points on two occasions down the stretch before Crump hit a three-pointer at the buzzer as TU trailed 40-34 at halftime.
In the second half with Embry-Riddle on top 50-42, the Eagles scored consecutive three-pointers to take a 54-42 lead with 14:36 remaining in the game.
Mitchell sparked a 9-2 run by the Pioneers with his six points in a three-minute span to trim the ERAU lead to 58-51 with 11:48 remaining.
The Eagles went on a 10-2 run to take a 68-53 lead with 8:46 on the clock and later took its largest lead of the night at 75-58 following Berry's three-point play at the 4:29 mark.
Tusculum made one last push with a 10-1 run to cut the deficit back to single digits at 76-68 following back-to-back baskets by Scott. But the Eagles would make their final two shots including a dunk by Chris Murray which put the lead back out to double-digits.
The Pioneers tied a school-record by going a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
ERAU finished the game shooting 46.6 percent including 13-of-23 in the opening half (57%). The Eagles also went 8-of-20 from three-point territory (40%) and 18-of-25 from the free throw line (72%). Tusculum shot 37 percent and went 6-of-33 from beyond the arch (18%). Embry-Riddle held a 44-39 edge in rebounding.
Tusculum returns to action in two weeks when the Pioneers travel to the YES Virgin Islands Classic. TU will open play on Dec. 31 at 10:15 a.m. against Livingstone.
