Elmira, NY – EC Men's Basketball looked to pick up their first win in the Empire 8 Conference tonight as they hosted the Saxons of Alfred University. This was the second of two meetings between the teams as Alfred took the first game back in January by a 9-point margin.
Rookie guard Derrick Vogel '14 (Bel Air, MD -- CM Wright) opened the game by scoring 9 of Elmira's first 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc. Fourth year player Bobby DiPiazza '11 (Wyckoff, NJ -- Bergen Catholic) also hit a three to give Elmira a 12-4 lead before T.J. Woitach '11 (Vestal, NY -- Vestal Senior) converted an and-one opportunity to put EC up by 11. Elmira would maintain their lead throughout the first half, only allowing Alfred to get to within 5 points of their lead. Credit the EC shooters for the lead as they went 10-of-24 from the field, including 5 three pointers, giving them a 31-22 lead at the half.
The Saxons would scrap their way back in the second half, cutting an 11 point Elmira lead to 6 with 13:09 to play. Elmira would again build up a solid 11 point lead as rookie Josh Keys '14 (Bel Air, MD -- CM Wright) would stroke two three pointers in an 11-to-6 run. EC would continue to build on the 11-6 run as they would outscore the Saxons 17-to-9 during a 6 minute stretch giving Elmira a 14 point edge with 7:01 to play.
Alfred would again make a strong push in the half to make things interesting as they would go on a 20-10 run, bringing them to within four points with just 32 seconds to play. Elmira would finish the game by going 5-for-6 from the charity stripe en route to a 73-66 win. The Soaring Eagles shot the ball incredibly well tonight as they were 47.1% from the field and 45.8% from beyond the arc.
Four Soaring Eagle players reached double-digits in tonight's win. DiPiazza finished with a game high 24 points as well as 7 rebounds while Keys and Vogel each netted 13 points a piece. Woitach, who got the start at forward tonight, finished with a season high 10 points to go along with 4 boards, 2 steals, and 2 assists.
Elmira will look to pick up another conference win as they host the Pioneers of Utica College in Elmira's final regular season game of the year next Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
Elmira College 73 Alfred University 66
