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Rochester, NY -- In their Empire 8 Conference opening contest, the Elmira College men's basketball team (3-5, 0-1 E8) dropped a hard fought game on the road tonight to Nazareth College (6-3, 1-0 E8), 66-54.  Elmira's bench played a large role in tonight's game as they contributed 25 points, the highest bench total of the season and the most since January 25, 2013.

Neil Randolph '15, the Empire 8 Conference's leading scorer, led the Soaring Eagles with 13 points and six rebounds while John Mullane '16 chipped in 11 points off the bench, a career high for the second year forward. David Borelli '15 added another eight points and grabbed seven boards while Tyler Dibble '15 came off the bench to score six points, a season high for the third year guard.

Nazareth controlled the early goings of the contest, going up 14-4 on the Soaring Eagles and would go up by as many as 17 points in the first half.  With 1:44 remaining in the first half, Nazareth held a 36-20 advantage but Elmira would close the half with five unanswered points to cut the Golden Flyer lead to 11 points at the break. 

Elmira's Mullane and Dibble provided a spark off the bench in the first half for Elmira, combining for 13 points. The duo scored back-to-back baskets in the final 1:44 of the first half to keep the game within EC's grasp.

In the second half, Elmira upped their defensive pressure by applying a full court press, which would pay dividends as the Soaring Eagles were able to cut the Golden Flyer lead to just six points with 10:32 to play in regulation.  During this time, five different EC players scored buckets with Randolph leading the charge with six while Borelli and Jake Metcalf '15 each added four points apiece.

However, Elmira's offense would go cold in the final seven minutes of regulation as they were held to just five points on 2-of-7 shooting from the floor and 1-of-3 shooting from the free throw line, eventually leading to a 66-54 loss.

Elmira will have a quick turnaround as the Soaring Eagles host St. John Fisher College in an Empire 8 Conference matchup tomorrow, January 4th.  Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Speidel Gymnasium in Elmira, NY.