DAYTONA BEACH — Malcolm Whitlow's 21 points and significant contributions from the Embry-Riddle bench ensured there would be no drama Tuesday in a third showdown with Florida Tech.

The Eagles built a 17-point halftime advantage and never looked back en route to a 75-61 victory in a Sunshine State Conference tournament quarterfinal. ERAU (21-8) swept the regular season series with the visiting Panthers (16-12) but required overtime in both previous head-to-head meetings.

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Third-seeded ERAU will host Barry, an upset winner over Florida Southern, in the semifinal round at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Eagles prevailed for the 10th time in their last 11 games, a testament to the team's depth, head coach Steve Ridder believes.

"I thought we got better defensively, but the way we've been able to utilize (Jon) Alessandro off the bench and Jerry Bracey — two different kinds of players — and then Milan (Skoric) has just been lights-out and then Nikola (Jerotic) has done a great job of giving (starting forward Danny) Sully a break," Ridder said. "We're a nine-person rotation right now. I can't remember where our bench has not come up and impacted the game at a high level."

ERAU's non-starters made 10 of 17 shots from the field. Bracey scored eight of his 10 points in the opening half, and Alessandro contributed five points, three rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes.

"It's about us being selfless," Bracey said.

"We made a deal with each other that we're going to do whatever it takes to win. We don't care about who gets the recognition. We know that, on great teams, bench players come in and contribute — whether that's scoring, rebounding or whatever. We all know that we have to play our roles."

Whitlow, ERAU's leading scorer at 15.9 points per game, powered the Eagles to a 25-12 advantage over the final 11:45 of the first half. He hit a runner in the lane with three seconds left before the break to send ERAU into the locker room ahead 41-24.

"He's just a baller. He's a bucket-getter," Ridder said. "He's a basketball dude. He's going to graduate and do great, but he has lived in this gym. You can tell he has played a lot of basketball because the bigger the game, the more he's just in-tune. He's rock solid."

ERAU limited Florida Tech to 35.7% shooting in the first half and dominated on the glass with a 36-18 edge in rebounding. Michael McCalister had 11 points and five boards, Cameron Shockley-Okeke chipped in 10 points with six rebounds and Melbourne native Dru Nickson tallied seven points, six rebounds and three assists against his hometown team.

In the bigger picture, ERAU looks like a safe bet to reach the NCAA Division II national tournament for the fourth straight season. Entering the night, the Eagles were seeded fourth in the South region behind national No. 1 Nova Southeastern, West Georgia and Florida Southern.

Women's Basketball: ERAU 59, Lynn 52

Madyson Jean-Louis became the fifth player in ERAU women's basketball history to score 1,000 career points, producing a game-high 18 as the third-seeded Eagles defeated sixth-seeded Lynn in a Sunshine State Conference quarterfinal.

ERAU improves to 20-8 on the season, avenging a loss to Lynn (14-15) from just three days prior. Jean-Louis achieved the milestone in the final 10 seconds of the third quarter, sinking a three-pointer from the left corner.

"I think it was perfectly planned out — how I hit it at the end of the third. I think it gave us momentum heading into the fourth quarter," said Jean-Louis, a 5-foot-7 junior guard from Grand Prairie, Texas. "I'm not a person that usually likes the spotlight or the limelight, but I think it was really nice to get the recognition that I deserve. And I think it did propel us."

The Eagles forced 20 turnovers, overcoming a 35.2% shooting performance — including a 3-for-15 mark in the first quarter, and a 3-for-12 rate in the fourth.

Jenna Tetercyz chipped in 11 points with eight rebounds, and Kailey Turpening filled the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds and five assists. Chandler Brooks and Laurie Satchell had three steals apiece off the bench, and Sarah Napoli knocked down a pair of clutch free throws with 18.2 seconds left.

The Eagles will face Tampa in the SSC semifinals Thursday.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: College basketball: Embry-Riddle advances in conference tournament