DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The top two teams in the league will do battler for the title of Sun Conference tournament champion on Saturday as No. 1 seed Embry-Riddle and No. 2 Northwood each won their respective semifinal contests on Friday evening.
Northwood advanced past third-seeded Warner in dramatic fashion in the first game of the night. Northwood led by as much a seven in the early part of the second half, but Warner went on a 13-2 run to take a 63-56 lead with 8:12 to play. Northwood battled back into contention and with 2:24 remaining Jay Duncan hit a three-pointer to make the score 70-69 in favor of the Seahawks. After a made Warner free throw, the league’s Freshman of the Year, Patrick Horstmann extended the lead to 72-70, but All-Conference honoree Derell Henderson quickly countered with a jumper to tie the score at 72. Each team converted on their respective offensive sets to keep the score deadlocked at 74 with 15 seconds left to play.
Coming out of a Northwood time out, Jeremy Barr missed a lay-up and after the ball was tipped around the rim, Barr managed to get the ball back and scored on a tip-in with 2.4 seconds showing on the clock. Warner’s desperation shot in the closing moments missed the mark, giving Northwood the 76-74win.
In the second game of the night, Embry-Riddle’s David Butler tallied a season-high 31 points to lead the Eagles past Florida Memorial, 81-76. The Eagles led by as many as 16 points in the second half, but Florida Memorial, led by 18 second half points from George Gray, steadily chipped away at the lead and pulled within four points with less than three minutes left in the contest. That was as close as the Lions would get as the Eagles made key plays down the stretch to pull out the win.
The Eagles and the Seahawks take the court at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Fans can watch live online by going to http://daytona.embryriddlesports.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml