Hamburg, NY -- The Elmira College men's basketball team could not overcome an early deficit as they fell to Hilbert College, 79-61. Elmira's backcourt carried the load offensively as Gino Leonardi '16 and Oladapo Badmos '17 were the only players in double-figures.
 
Leonardi did not start, but he impacted the game on both ends of the floor in 26 minutes off the bench. The junior guard led all Elmira players with 16 points and nine rebounds, eight of which came on the defensive end. He also knocked down three three-pointers, which matched him for the team-high with fellow junior Justin Henderson '16, who turned his three three-pointers into nine points. Badmos scored 12 points while adding two assists and one of EC's two steals.
 
EC got off to a slow start offensively, missing eight of their first 10 shots while committing four turnovers. Hilbert, on the other hand, came out firing on all cylinders as they opened the game on a 17-4 run. The Soaring Eagles began to settle in and chip away at the deficit, eventually making it a 26-21 game after Leonardi tipped-in a Neil Randolph'15 missed three with 5:47 left in the first half. Hilbert again stretched the lead out to double-digits at 35-24, but an 8-2 run capped off by Randolph's fast break three-pointer, once again made it a five point game with 1:45 remaining in the opening half. EC was not able to get any closer than that in the final minute-plus as the Hawks led 43-34 at the break.
 
The Purple and Gold came out strong in the second half, playing with intensity on both ends of the floor. EC cut Hilbert's lead to five points twice in the opening minutes of the half, thanks to back-to-back baskets from Randolph, but five points would be as close the Soaring Eagles would get as Hilbert re-took control of the game with consecutive three-point baskets. The deficit remained in double-figures for the duration of the second half as Elmira would fall 79-61.
 
EC returns to action on Friday, December 5th when they travel to take on Clarkson University at 8:00 p.m.