Box Score DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.- An upset just wasn't in the cards Thursday night for the Fire as they fell to second-ranked Embry-Riddle 66-61 at the ICI Center.
The Eagles (25-1, 13-1 TSC) took an early 9-2 lead less than three minutes into the game, and pushed their first half advantage to 11 with 12:33 left on a 3-pointer by Daniel Kiesling. Leading 25-15 with 9:47 to go in the half, the Fire started to wake up, and closed the half on a 23-11 run, and led 38-36 at the half.
The Fire (13-11, 7-8 TSC) used three straight 3-pointers by Jordan Talley, Andre' Winston, and Caleb Konieczny to climb back into the game and take their 10-point deficit to a 1-point deficit at the 6:35 mark of the half. Tim Mitchell connected on two free throws at the 2:59 mark to tie the game at 31, and a jumper by Winston 44 seconds later gave the Fire their first lead.
The advantage lasted just 19 seconds as the Eagles answered with a 3-pointer on their next possession. Winston's 3-pointer with 49 seconds left in the half put the Fire up heading into the locker room.
A 10-1 run by the Eagles to start the second half gave them a 46-39 lead with 16:57 to play. The Fire were kept at arms-length up until the 4:09 mark when Dana Thomas scored on a fastbreak layup, and Talley connected on a 3-pointer to cut the Embry lead to 57-56.
The best chance for the Fire came with 2:44 left in the contest, and Mitchell rejecting a shot by Cesar Pastrana, but the rebound was controlled by the Eagles and set up a clinching 3-pointer by DeForest Carter to give ERAU a 62-58 lead.
Southeastern was led by Winston's game-high 23 points. The senior also had eight rebounds, and four assists. Mitchell had a double-double effort of 12 points and 16 rebounds. Thomas was also in double figures with 11 points.
After shooting 41.9% from the field in the first half, the Fire were just 33% (9-of-27) in the second 20 minutes, and hit just one of their nine 3-point attempts. Meanwhile, the Eagles hit on 11 of their 27 second half field goals, and bagged three 3-point attempts in the second 20 minutes.
The Fire are back in action on Saturday when they host Ave Maria at 4 p.m.
