Box Score

The Elmira College Men's Basketball team trimmed a large deficit to just five points in the second half, but ultimately fell, 59-51, to visiting St. John Fisher College Friday evening in Speidel Gymnasium. The win improves the Cardinals to 13-8 overall and 7-4 in Empire 8 play, while the loss drops the Soaring Eagles to 5-15 and 2-7.

Fisher opened up a 20-13 lead midway through the first half and extended that lead to 11 at 33-22 at intermission. The Cardinals shot 52 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while Elmira converted on just 33 percent of its field goals. Justin Plata and Jason Norsen led Fisher with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The Cardinals opened up its largest lead of the game at 38-24 three minutes into the second half. The Soaring Eagles trimmed the lead to five on multiple occasions as it picked up its three-point shooting percentage. With 5:18 remaining Fisher held on to a slim, 54-49, advantage.

Over the next few minutes Elmira had a number of chances to trim the deficit, but neither team scored again until Chris Cassidy '14 (Colts Neck, NJ -- Colts Neck) buried two free throws with 1:19 remaining to bring the score to 54-51. Over the next 45 seconds Fisher went 4-for-6 from the line to create a cushion at 58-51, as Elmira could not capitalize on a few good looks at the hoop.

Neil Randolph '15 (Wicklow, Ireland -- Presentation) led the Soaring Eagle attack with 18 points, while shooting 4-for-6 from downtown. Josh Keys '14 (Bel Air, MD -- CM Wright) added nine points on 3-for-6 shooting from long distance and Cassidy finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

Plata paced Fisher with 17 points and Chaz Lott and Jason Noren added 15 and 12 points, respectively. The Cardinals outrebounded Elmira 31-24 and held a huge 32-14 edge in points in the paint. Meanwhile, EC held a 16-9 bench points advantage.

The EC Men's Basketball team returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Alfred University starting at 8:00 p.m. in Speidel Gymnasium.