In one of its most explosive offensive performances of the season, Embry-Riddle mounted a furious second-half rally and held a late lead, but a last-second Arizona Christian jumper proved decisive as the Eagles fell 79–78 on Saturday afternoon inside the ACU Events Center.

Despite trailing by 14 points late in the first half, ERAU (13–9, 6–4 GSAC) erupted for 49 second-half points, shooting a blistering 63% from the field and 53% from three after halftime. The Eagles hit 12 total threes, forced 16 ACU turnovers, and held a lead in the final seconds before the Firestorm escaped with the narrow win.

Noah Gifft delivered one of the best performances of the GSAC season, pouring in 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting, including 17 second-half points that powered ERAU's comeback. Gifft added 2 steals and went 6-for-7 at the line, including a clutch go-ahead free throw with :50 remaining.
 

Alongside Gifft, the Eagles' backcourt was electric:

• Christian Wells — 19 points, including 5-of-8 from three and a team-high 5 assists.
• Peter Dress — 15 points, 3-of-5 from three, and several key second-half baskets.
• Matur Dhal — 6 points, 4 assists, and a defensive spark at the rim.

ACU opened the game with hot shooting and built a 14-point advantage at the 4:28 mark of the first half. Embry-Riddle, meanwhile, fought through early cold shooting from the perimeter (4-for-14 from three) but stayed afloat behind Wells' 11 early points and Gifft's ability to get to the free-throw line. ERAU trailed 37–29 at halftime.

The Eagles came out of the locker room with a roar.

• Gifft drilled back-to-back threes to tie the game at 37–37 just 50 seconds into the half.
• Wells followed with a go-ahead three at 18:04, giving ERAU its first lead of the day.
• A three from Dress at 16:34 capped a 14–0 run, pushing the Eagles ahead 45–40.
• At 14:25, Gifft's layup gave the Eagles their largest lead of the afternoon at 52–42
• Conner Ivy buried a three at 9:40 to restore a 15-point advantage, 68–53.

Arizona Christian clawed back with a series of free throws and paint touches, eventually trimming ERAU's lead to 75–73 with 1:38 remaining. A sequence of big plays followed:

• Gifft hit a free throw to push the lead to 76–75 with :50 left.
• Drew Goodline countered with a layup to put ACU ahead 77–76.
• Gifft answered again, scoring a driving layup with :14 remaining to reclaim the lead, 78–77.

Embry-Riddle will tip-off at 7pm on Thursday evening against GSAC leading The Master's University.