Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College men's basketball team held the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons to their lowest scoring output of the season, but EC's defensive efforts would come up just short as the Soaring Eagles fell to the Red Dragons, 54-43. Nine different players made their way into the scoring column tonight, with Gino Leonardi '16 pacing EC with eight points.
 
Directly behind Leonardi was Tyler Dibble'15, who produced a stat line of seven points, two rebounds, and a block. Dibble was also tasked with guarding Cortland's best player while on the floor, whether that be Lamard Herron or Blair Estarfaa, who came in averaging 16.4 and 12.6 points per game, respectively. Dibble and EC's combined defensive effort held the Cortland duo to just 10 points and 20 percent shooting from the floor.
 
Rounding out the box score for the Purple and Gold were a quartet of players with five points each, Neil Randolph '15, Connor Bays '18, Oladapo Badmos '17, and David Borelli '15. In addition to their five points, both Bays and Borelli each had strong performances on the boards, with seven and eight rebounds, respectively.
 
The Soaring Eagles were firing on all cylinders in the early goings of the first half, helping EC take swap leads with the Red Dragons four times in the first 10 minutes of the game. Elmira took a 14-11 advantage after a converted and-one by Dibble and maintained a lead until a three-point play by James Morales with 2:06 remaining put Cortland on top, 23-21. That play was part of a 12-2 Cortland run that put EC behind 30-23 at the half.
 
The Red Dragons expanded their advantage to 11 points shortly after the start of the second half, but EC would not go away. Elmira used a 7-0 run to make it a 34-30 game with 13:21 to go, but Cortland would stop the run on the next possession to keep it a multi-possession game. The Purple and Gold's deficit remained in single-digits for much of the second half, varying between four and eight points, but Elmira would not be able to overcome the Red Dragons as Cortland hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to knock off the Soaring Eagles.
 
EC will have over a week between games as they return to action on Tuesday, February 3rd at SUNY Fredonia. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.