Avery Jackson and
Brayden Miner both had 25 points as TMU knocked off Embry-Riddle Thursday by a score of 84-77 in The MacArthur Center.
TMU was led by an efficient second-half offense, shooting 55.8% post halftime to improve to 4-1 in GSAC play.
Jackson shot eight of 12 and also had five rebounds as TMU was without two of its forwards,
Duke Gipson and
Tiago Soares, most of the game due to foul troubles.
In the opening 20 minutes, ERAU outpaced the Mustangs in the shooting department, making 52.4% of their attempts compared to just 37.9% for TMU. The Eagles scored the first seven points of the game and led for the majority of the first half. But 12 Eagle turnovers kept the Mustangs close, as they entered halftime trailing by just two points.
"I feel like we came out a little bit flat tonight," TMU Head Coach Kelvin Starr said. "But we put it together in the final 15 minutes and played harder."
Skyler Scull led the team in the first half with seven points and Jackson and
Jazen Guillory both had five points.
TMU picked up the pace offensively in the second half as Jackson and Miner led the charge. An and-one from Jackson gave TMU the lead early in the second half and he scored seven in a row for the Mustangs inside the final five minutes.
"Avery and Brayden had huge second halves, offensively," Coach Starr said. "It was a big to have them making all those clutch shots."
The Eagles narrowed the gap to just one point with 1:11 remaining but Jackson and Miner sank all of their six shots from the charity stripe to end the game.
TMU forced 19 ERAU turnovers and scored 26 points off those Eagle miscues. Guillory had nine points on 4 for 5 shooting.
TMU will play in one week's time next Thursday against OUAZ in Suprise, Ariz.
