Jason Hendrix, Thomas University Sports Information Director
DAYTONA BEACH – The Thomas University men’s basketball team simply struggled on the road tonight en route to the 94-70 loss at the hands of second ranked Embry-Riddle.
ERAU started the game off with a dominating offensive stretch to take the 12-2 lead in the first three minutes of the contest. Thomas, who never led the entire game, turned the ball over on four consecutive positions to add to the Eagles’ fury. At the second media timeout, ERAU had a comfortable 21-6 lead. The Eagles maintained a consistent 15 point over the Night Hawks through the remainder of the half until they increased that lead to 19 on two consecutive threes by DeForest Carter to head into the break up 42-23.
The Hunter Green and White’s offensive woes continued in the second half. They committed four of their 16 total turnovers within the first two minutes of play in the second frame. ERAU capitalized on the miscues to extend their lead to 55-30 at the first media timeout of the final period.
Embry-Riddle amassed its largest lead of the game (40) with 10:40 remaining in the contest. Slowly, ERAU’s head coach Steve Ridder look out all his starters and placed his reserve unit in to finish the game.
Down the stretch, the Night Hawks closed the gap to 22, 92-70, when senior Max Grace netted both of his free throws with 44 ticks left on the clock. The Eagles finished the game off with a layup by Bradley Mapes to take the 94-70 victory over the visiting Night Hawks.
Senior guard Marcus Humose led the way for the Night Hawks in the loss. The Marianna, Fla., native, who usually averages 10.9 points a game, had an offensive assault for Thomas scoring a career, single game high 28 points. Humose went 11-for-19 from the field while making four of his nine shots from behind the arch. He was the leading scorer and only Night Hawk in double figures for the evening. ERAU was led by Carter who netted 18 points in the victory.
Thomas drops to 18-9, 9-8 TSC, while the Eagles improve to 27-1, 15-1 on the year.
TU still leads the all-time series with Embry-Riddle (4-3) and claims the NAIA’s second ranked team’s only loss of the 2014-2015 season.
The Night Hawks return to action on Saturday, Feb. 21 when they travel to West Palm Beach, Fla., to face Sun Conference rival Northwood University in their final regular season game of the year. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m.
