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Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Tim Kramer SENIOR DAVID BUTLER LED the Eagles with three blocks as the Eagles secured their rank at the top of the conference. Eric Lorenzi led the team with 22 points and 12 boards in the 71-58 victory over second place Webber International.

The 11th-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball team extended its lead in The Sun Conference regular season race to two games with a 71-58 victory over the Webber International (WIU) Warriors on Saturday. The matchup between the top two teams in the league promised to be a good one and it did not disappoint as the Eagles handed the Warriors their first home loss of the year to improve to 19-4 on the year and 8-1 in league play.

The Warriors jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the game, but the Eagles caught up quickly and tied the score at 6-6 in the first half, which featured five ties and seven lead changes. After tying the score at 10-10 with 14:49 to go in the half, the Warriors went ahead by three, but once again the Eagles answered the challenge and an Eric Lorenzi three-pointer started a 6-0 Eagle run to give the Blue and Gold its largest lead of the half at 21-15 with 10:22 left in the frame.

Webber International head coach John Shoffner called a 30-second timeout to settle his team and the Warriors responded by rattling off 10 unanswered points to reclaim a four-point advantage at the 4:58 mark. After turning the ball over on five straight possessions, the Eagles settled down and connected on five of their last eight attempts of the half and went into the locker room with a 33-30 lead.

Whatever ERAU head coach Steve Ridder said to his team during the intermission provided the motivation the Eagles needed for a strong start in the second half. The Eagles outscored the Warriors 11-3 in the first five minutes to extend the advantage to 11 points (44-33). WIU's leading scorer, Junior Geidi, hit a three to pull the Warriors within seven at the 13:35 mark, but that was as close as the Eagles would allow them to get.

Over the next eight minutes, the Eagle defense limited the Warriors to just 14.3 percent shooting from the field, while the offense continued to pour on the points, outscoring the home team 18-5 for their largest lead of the night at 20 points (64-44) with 5:49 remaining in the game.

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