THOMASVILLE, Ga. – It was upset city in Thomasville, Ga., tonight as the Thomas University men's basketball team defeated No. 2 Embry-Riddle.  The Night Hawks clipped the Eagles' 17 game winning streak ending its season of perfection.  Embry-Riddle, who was the lone remaining undefeated program in NAIA Division II, were handed their first loss of the season in the 77-70 defeat.
 
From the tip, both teams set at a stalemate converting shot-for-shot.  The game had six lead changes and two ties in the first seven minutes of action with neither team taking more than a three point advantage at its height.  The Night Hawks began to tilt the shift with a 6-0 run that started with an eight jumper by senior forward Alan Love and ended with a layup by Adonai Rogers with 11:17 remaining in the first period.
 
Embry-Riddle hung in with the Night Hawks over the next three minutes, but once again Thomas pushed another 6-0 run to increase their lead to 26-17 with 7:18 remaining until the intermission.  This nine point lead was Thomas' largest of the first half.
 
The Eagles stuck close slowly chipping away at Thomas' lead. Embry-Riddle narrowed the margin with 1:24 remaining when center Cesar Pastrana tied the game at 31 converting his first of two free throws.  Embry-Riddle took their first lead of the half since the open minutes with 49 seconds on the clock and carried that momentum into the intermission with the 34-33 lead.
 
After the break, Embry-Riddle continued its momentum into the second half scoring the first six points to increase their lead to 40-33.  The Eagles maintained a lead for the majority of the second half until the Night Hawks tied the game at 61 with just over four minutes remaining in regulation.
 
Thomas' pressure defense carried the team down the stretch.  The Night Hawks held Embry-Riddle to just two made field goals in the final 12 minutes of the game. Thomas took the lead with 2:20 to play on a three from the right side of the arch by TJ Rines, putting them ahead of Embry-Riddle for good. 
 
The Night Hawks held on to the lead down the stretch, outscoring Embry-Riddle 16-7 leading to the upset of the second-ranked Eagles in the 77-70 victory.
 
Thomas shot 47.4 percent from the field while Embry-Riddle finished with 35.7 percent.  The Night Hawks forced 16 Eagle turnovers and collected a game high eight steals.
 
Love led all scorers in the game with 23 points.  The 6-foot-5, College Park, Ga., native also brought down seven rebounds and made two blocks.  He was one of four Night Hawks in double figures for the evening.  Rogers netted 15 points while Rodney Sturkie contributed 11 points and game high four steals in the contest.  Senior guard Max Grace rounded out the list with 10 points and four rebounds.
 
"Great win for our program and these players," exclaimed head coach Stephen Cox.  "I want to thank our fans for their support! I knew we would have a good crowd, but our fans really turned out. Awesome job! We'll need them again Thursday night!  Also, thank you for to our fans for their support of the fight against cancer in our Suits and Sneakers campaign."
 
Thomas improves to 12-5, 3-4 in TSC play, on the year while Embry-Riddle drops to 17-1, 5-1 on the year.
 
Cox continued, "We had some guys really step up tonight and played well defensively.  We had a game plan going in, and our guys simply executed it to perfection. Down the stretch we kept focus in timeouts, and the guys stayed the course, rebounded well, and made some free throws when it counted."

The Night Hawks return to action on Thursday, Jan. 22 when they host Sun Conference rival Northwood University (Fla.) at the TU Gymnasium. This game is the second of three games where NAIA coaches will participate in the annual Coaches vs. Cancer program.  Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com.  Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of your TU men's basketball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksMBKB.