Elmira, NY – The Elmira College Men's Basketball team fell to visiting Nazareth College, 90-78, Saturday afternoon in Speidel Gymnasium. The win improves the Golden Flyers to 14-6 overall and 7-2 in Empire 8 play, while the loss drops the Soaring Eagles to 0-19 overall and 0-9 in conference competition.
Nazareth got out to a quick 13-2 start as they were efficient offensively. Elmira responded, outscoring the Golden Flyers 10-4 to bring the deficit within five points at the 12:10 mark. Over the next five minutes Nazareth went on a 16-4 run to blow open a 33-16 lead. Elmira hung in tough getting within 11 once, and trailing just 46-32 at intermission. Chris Cassidy '14 (Colts Neck, NJ -- Colts Neck) led EC with 14 points in the first half, shooting 5-for-7 from the field and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Jason Corletta led the Flyers with 13 points.
Elmira came out in the second half with great intensity cutting a 14 point Nazareth lead down to just two in a matter of four mintues. Dan O'Brien '14 (Oneonta, NY -- Oneonta) made back-to-back steals and converted a lay-up at the 15:58 mark to bring the score to 51-49 in favor of the Golden Flyers.
The game continued to go back-and-forth with Elmira continuing to remain within three on several occasions. EC forward Cassidy fouled out of the game with just over seven minutes remaining, and the Soaring Eagles became somewhat one dimensional losing their inside post presence. The Golden Flyer defense tightened up as they pulled away late for the 12 point victory.
Cassidy led all scorers with 26 points, shooting 10-for-13 from the field. O'Brien added 21 in the scoring colum, while Josh Keys '14 (Bel Air, MD -- CM Wright) had 17 points, including five treys. The Golden Flyers had five players tally double digits in points as Jason Corletta (25), Tyshun Stephens (18), Phil Scaffidi (14), Brad Ford (10), and Jamell Johnson (10) all accomplished the feat.
Elmira shot 60 percent from the field, nailing 68 percent of its field goal attempts during its second half comeback. Nazareth held a 30-20 advantage on the glass and 21-6 nod in bench points, while Elmira dominated points in the paint 36-20.
The Elmira College Men's Basketball team returns to action Tuesday when it travels to take on Hamilton College at 7:00 p.m.
