Box Score
Elmira, NY – The Elmira College Men's Basketball team used an impressive team effort that included five different players scoring eight points or more as it upended visiting Ithaca College, 72-66, Tuesday evening in Speidel Gymnasium. The win improves the Soaring Eagles to 3-12 overall and 1-4 in Empire 8 play, while the loss drops the Bombers to 9-4 overall and gives them their first conference loss at 4-1.
EC got out to a quick 5-0 start behind a trey from
Neil Randolph '15 and a bucket inside from
David Borelli '15. Elmira extended its lead to as many as eight at 22-14 after a
Matt Newell '14 basket from downtown.
Over the next 8:30 the Bombers went on a 21-4 run backed by four triples from Sean Rossi. He went a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the opening stanza as Ithaca took a 36-32 advantage into intermission.
Ithaca led by as many as 11 points in the second half as they took a 50-39 lead with 13:24 remaining after two Tom Sweeney free throws. EC responded with an emphatic 8-0 run over the next three minutes that included five points from
Josh Keys '14 and a trey from
Randolph.
The Bombers regained a five point lead, but
Keys responded with another basket from long distance and classmate
Derrick Vogel '14 finished a pretty drive to the hoop to tie the game at 52 all at the 7:44 mark.
The contest would see three ties down the stretch with the final one coming at the 2:34 plateau at 61 apiece. Over the next two minutes the Purple and Gold went on an 8-0 run, which included a perfect 6-for-6 mark at the charity stripe.
Chris Cassidy '14 and
Vogel each contributed four points on the spurt. Sporting a 69-61 advantage with time winding down Elmira sank its free throws to prevail, 72-66.
Cassidy and
Randolph paced the Soaring Eagles with 16 points apiece, while
Keys added 14 in the scoring column.
Randolph shot 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-6 from long distance, while
Keys converted on four of his eight attempts from downtown.
Borelli tied a career high with eight points and notched five rebounds, while converting on all three of his shot attempts.
Vogel added nine points and six assists.
Rossi led all scorers with 21 points, but shot just 1-for-4 from downtown in the second half after a sizzling start. Travis Warech (13) and Frank Mitchell (10) also finished with double digit points for the Bombers.
Elmira shot 48 percent from the field in the contest and committed just nine turnovers. The Soaring Eagles finished a remarkable 10-for-19 from three-point-range (53 percent). Meanwhile, Ithaca converted only 39 percent of its shots from the field. EC also held a distinct 19-11 edge in bench points.
The Elmira College Men's Basketball team returns to action Saturday when it travels to take on Utica College in Empire 8 action starting at 4:00 p.m.
