Elmira, NY – The Elmira College Men's Basketball team couldn't hold on to a double digit second half lead as it fell late to Utica, 71-68, Saturday afternoon in Speidel Gymnasium. The win improves the Pioneers to 9-15 overall and 5-8 in Empire 8 play, while the loss drops the Soaring Eagles to 1-23 overall and 1-12 in conference competition.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than six. The Soaring Eagles took a slight 32-30 advantage into intermission. EC manhandled Utica in the opening 20 minutes on the boards, as they outrebounded the Pioneers 26-15 overall and 14-5 on the offensive glass. Classmates
Chris Cassidy '14 (Colts Neck, NJ -- Colts Neck) and
Dan O'Brien '14 (Oneonta, NY -- Oneonta) netted 10 points apiece to lead Elmira, while Matt Baldwin led Utica with 12 points.
The Purple and Gold used a 22-8 run over a span of eight minutes to blow open a 13 point lead, at 54-41, with 11:45 to play. However, the Pioneers responded with an impressive run of their own over the next eight minutes, as they rolled off 22 points to just five EC points, taking a 63-59 lead with just under four minutes to play. Utica led by as many as six with 18 seconds remaining, but after a
Neil Randolph '15 (Wicklow, Ireland -- Presentation) trifecta and a
Kurt Dutcher '14 (Gaylord, MI -- Gaylord) steal the Soaring Eagles had a chance to tie the game at the end. However,
Cassidy's three-pointer with three seconds left couldn't find the bottom of the net as the Pioneers held on to win, 71-68.
Josh Keys '14 (Bel Air, MD -- CM Wright) led all scorers with 21 points. Following closely behind were
Cassidy with 19 points and nine boards and
O'Brien with 18 points, six assists and five rebounds. Aaron Nevins led a balanced Pioneer attack that saw five players score in double figures. Nevins finished with 18 points, while Jeff Ward had 16, Baldwin tallied 14, Chris Jeffers notched 11 and Marty Felicia contributed 10.
The Elmira College Men's Basketball team closes out its season February 18th when it travels to take on Alfred for a 4:00 p.m. tip.
Utica 71 Elmira 68
