Men's basketball defeats Rams to advance to finals
John Phillips
Issue date: 12/1/09 Section: Sports
The Embry-Riddle men's basketball team defeated Framingham State (Mass.) Friday evening, 77-49, in the opening game of the 25th annual Harbor Invitational Tournament on the campus of UMass Boston, moving their overall record to 4-3.
The Eagles led 39-25 at the end of the first frame, as Blake Touchard headed the offense with 11 points, converting on four of eight attempts. Eric Lorenzi and Brett Rawlings added eight a piece, while David Butler came off the bench and contributed eight points, six rebounds, and five blocks in the first half of the contest. The Eagles got out of the gates quickly, taking a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes. Brett Rawlings sandwiched two easy buckets around an Eric Lorenzi three-pointer to get things started. The lead would grow to 15 points with 8:48 to go in the first (27-12) before the Rams put together an 11-0 run to trim the lead to just four points with 4:06 to go before halftime forcing the Eagles to take a timeout. Defensive intensity must have been the message during the timeout, because the blue and gold closed out the half on a 12-2 run. David Butler keyed the run, picking up six points, three rebounds, two blocks and an assist during this four minute stretch.
The Eagles continued their dominant performance in the second half, ripping off an 11-4 run to start the frame, pushing the lead to 50-29 with 15:17 to play. The Rams never got closer that 16 points for the remainder of the game as the Eagles rolled down the stretch. The final four minutes of the second half were just as dominant as the final four minutes of the first, as the Eagles reserves closed the game on a 13-1 run over the final 4:24.
Touchard finished the night with 16 points for the Eagles, while Butler was two blocks shy of recording a triple-double, as he finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks. Brett Rawlings contributed 12 points and seven rebounds, while Eric Lorenzi added 10 points and five boards.
Mount Ida advanced to the championship game by defeating the host school 86-60 in the late game Friday night.
The Eagles led 39-25 at the end of the first frame, as Blake Touchard headed the offense with 11 points, converting on four of eight attempts. Eric Lorenzi and Brett Rawlings added eight a piece, while David Butler came off the bench and contributed eight points, six rebounds, and five blocks in the first half of the contest. The Eagles got out of the gates quickly, taking a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes. Brett Rawlings sandwiched two easy buckets around an Eric Lorenzi three-pointer to get things started. The lead would grow to 15 points with 8:48 to go in the first (27-12) before the Rams put together an 11-0 run to trim the lead to just four points with 4:06 to go before halftime forcing the Eagles to take a timeout. Defensive intensity must have been the message during the timeout, because the blue and gold closed out the half on a 12-2 run. David Butler keyed the run, picking up six points, three rebounds, two blocks and an assist during this four minute stretch.
The Eagles continued their dominant performance in the second half, ripping off an 11-4 run to start the frame, pushing the lead to 50-29 with 15:17 to play. The Rams never got closer that 16 points for the remainder of the game as the Eagles rolled down the stretch. The final four minutes of the second half were just as dominant as the final four minutes of the first, as the Eagles reserves closed the game on a 13-1 run over the final 4:24.
Touchard finished the night with 16 points for the Eagles, while Butler was two blocks shy of recording a triple-double, as he finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks. Brett Rawlings contributed 12 points and seven rebounds, while Eric Lorenzi added 10 points and five boards.
Mount Ida advanced to the championship game by defeating the host school 86-60 in the late game Friday night.
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