Potsdam, NY -- It took an extra five minutes of play for the Elmira College men's basketball team to hand Clarkson University their first loss of the season as the Soaring Eagles took down the Golden Knights, 76-68, in overtime Friday evening. The Purple and Gold were paced by three players in double-figures, with Neil Randolph '15 and Justin Henderson '16 each leading all scorers with 24 points.
 
Randolph had his best game of the 2014-15 season, scoring 24 points on an efficient 9-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc, and pulling down six rebounds in the win. Henderson got the call to start tonight's game, his first career start, and did not disappoint, setting career-highs with 24 points and six rebounds. The junior guard, who wears the number-23 jersey formally worn by former EC marksman Josh Keys '14, channeled his inner-Keys and knocked-down 8-of-10 shots from distance, including a perfect 7-of-7 in regulation. He also came up with arguably the biggest shot of his career, as his three-pointer with 2:17 remaining in overtime put Elmira ahead, 69-66.
 
The other Soaring Eagle in double-figures was Gino Leonardi '16, who played a game-high 42 minutes for the Purple and Gold. Leonardi had an off-night shooting the ball, going 3-of-14 from the field and 0-of-7 from three-point range, but he went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe, with four of those made free throws coming in the overtime period. Leonardi also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and tied for the team-high with five assists in EC's victory. Brian McDonald'15 only scored four points, but he filled up the stat sheet, grabbing four rebounds and recording a career-high five assists.
 
The Purple and Gold started strong against the Golden Knights, hitting five of their first nine shots to take a 13-9 advantage with 14:06 to play in the first half. Clarkson would respond, however, using a 9-2 run to take a three point lead, 18-15, just four minutes later. The Golden Knight run would continue as Clarkson stretched it out to a 29-23 advantage with 1:56 remaining in the first half. Henderson's fourth three-pointer of the half made it just a three point game, which was Elmira's deficit at the half as they trailed 31-28.
 
EC retook the lead at 36-35 just over two minutes into the second half after Henderson hit his second consecutive three-pointer, and Elmira maintained that lead for nearly the entirety of the second half. The lead hovered around four points for the majority of the half, but back-to-back three-pointers from Randolph with just over five minutes to play gave EC their largest lead of the game, eight points at 60-52.
 
The Soaring Eagles held onto their eight-point lead, 62-54, with 1:21 to play, but Clarkson would not go away as the Golden Knights cut EC's lead to four points with 45 seconds left. A pair of Leonardi free throws pushed it back to six points, but two empty trips to the free throw line allowed Clarkson to make it a three-point game with six seconds left on the clock. The Golden Knights dribbled the length of the floor and Clarkson's John Coleman knocked down a three-pointer with 0.2 seconds left on the clock to tie the score and send the game to overtime.
 
Clarkson opened the overtime period with a basket to make it 66-64, but a quick 5-0 run, which was capped-off by Henderson's eighth three-pointer of the game, put the Purple and Gold up 69-66 with 2:17 to play. EC went 5-of-8 from the free throw line in the final minute of play to seal the 76-68 victory.
 
EC has a short turnaround as they complete their North Country road-trip against St. Lawrence University tomorrow, December 6th at 1:00 p.m.