Even though it is still in January, the Park University Gilbert men's basketball team faced what in their minds must have been a must win game against Embry Riddle this evening in Prescott, Ariz., to keep its playoff hopes alive. The Buccaneers struggled from the floor for the second game in a row and faced a motivated and hot shooting ERAU squad who defeated the Bucs 78-63.
In the first half the game remained competitive through the 7:38 seconds. With the score 15-13 ERAU, the Eagles went on an 11-2 run which broke the game open and the Bucs were never able to significantly cut in to the deficit. Embry Riddle increased the lead to as many as 16 before the Bucs made a slight dent to cut the lead to eight by the half to give some hope of a second half comeback.
The second half started with ERAU making a bucket to bring the lead back to double digits and its lead would remain in double figures for the remainder of the game. The Eagles would increase the lead to as large as 24 points before finishing with a 15-point win.
The Bucs finished shooting 34 percent from the floor, taking 16 more shots than the Eagles, but they were much more efficient, shooting 52 percent. Both teams shot poorly from beyond the arc, With Park making 28 percent and ERAU making 33 percent. In addition to the poor shooting from the floor, Park was also poor from the free throw line making a little over half of its 26 attempts from the charity stripe, while the Eagles almost made as many free throws as the Bucs shot (24).
Park forced 21 ERAU turnovers and only committed 12 themselves which has to make this loss sting even more as they took care of the basketball.
Individually, DJ Frye continues to get better with each game, leading the team in scoring with 15 points. Caleb Ivy finished with 14, although many of those points came when the game was already in hand. Aiden Moreno finished with his third double-double of the season, scoring 12 and pulling down 12 boards.
The Bucs will lick their wounds and attempt to rebound on Saturday as they take on La Sierra at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 27 at 8:30 p.m. at the Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa, Ariz.
