Score: Hilbert College 80 – Elmira College 73
Records: Hilbert (5-0), Elmira (0-3)
Location: Speidel Gymnasium – Elmira, NY
 
Elmira, NY -- Four Soaring Eagles finished with double figures tonight, but it would not be enough, as the Elmira College men's basketball team dropped a hard fought 80-73 decision to visiting Hilbert College. Rookie standout Justin Porrett '19 led the charge with a game- and career-high 20 points and seven rebounds.
 
Elmira controlled the boards in this evening's contest, outrebounding the Hawks 32-to-29. However, the Soaring Eagles would commit 27 personal fouls, sending Hilbert to the line 30 times with the Hawks converting on 22 of those attempts.
 
Hilbert controlled the flow of play for most of the first half, going up by as many as 15 points with 4:10 to play in the opening stanza. Thankfully, Elmira would go on a 12-to-5 run to close out the first half, cutting the Hilbert lead to 41-33 at the break. Leading the charge during EC's run was Justin Henderson '16, who scored six of his 19 points during EC's mini-rally. Henderson finished the first half with 15 points, all on three-point buckets.
 
In the second half, Henderson launched another three-ball from the corner in the opening 10 seconds, only to see his attempt rattle in-and-out. Hilbert capitalized on the miss and opened the first 3:36 of the half on a 9-2 run, which put the Hawks back on top by 15 points, 50-35.
 
Then, with a lot of heart, Elmira started to chip away at the Hilbert lead over the next five and half minutes. During that stretch, EC outscored Hilbert 15-to-5, slashing the Hawks' lead to 55-50 with just about 11 minutes to play in regulation. Fueling Elmira's run was the team's superb play on defense, as the Soaring Eagles forced four turnovers and held the Hawks to 1-of-3 shooting from the floor.
 
Hilbert maintained their five-point lead through the 9:11 mark of the half, at which point a strange sequence of plays would unfold. Over the next 1:16, six turnovers were committed, split evenly by the two sides, with nearly all of those turnovers occurring in Hilbert's frontcourt. Elmira struggled to inbound the ball but the Hawks would give the ball right back shortly after.
 
The next five minutes of play saw the Hawks build their lead to as many as 10 points, only to see Elmira knock it down to three, Hilbert's smallest lead since the opening 20 seconds of the first half. The key to Elmira's comeback rested primarily with its rookie guard, Porrett, who scored eight straight points over a two-and-a-half minute span, forcing a Hilbert timeout with 2:59 to play.  
 
With the score at 68-65, Elmira took to the defensive side of the floor looking for a stop. Elmira's defense denied the Hawks on their next possession, but the Soaring Eagles were unable to grab the rebound on a pair of missed layups, as Kirkland Ottey corralled the ball on Hilbert's second miss. Ottey would eventually lay-in the ball on Hilbert's third chance, extending the Hawks' lead to 70-65.
 
Ottey's lay-in seemed to take the wind out of Elmira's sails, as Hilbert pushed their lead to 80-67 with 18 seconds to play. Elmira would make a mini-run to end the game, but the effort proved to be too little too late, as the Hawks secured their fifth consecutive win of the year, 80-73.
 
Turning Point
After seeing Porrett score eight straight points, which cut the Hilbert lead to three points with just a tick under three minutes to play, Elmira looked to be on the verge of taking over tonight's contest. However, on the Hawks' next possession, Elmira failed to grab the rebound on a pair of Hilbert misses, allowing Kirkland Ottey to put the ball in the basket on the team's third attempt of the possession. Ottey's make made it a two-possession game, which would ultimately lead to seven-point win for the Hawks.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Elmira went 28-for-60 from the field tonight (46.7%) while Hilbert shot 50 percent from the floor.
• Elmira knocked down 10 three-pointers compared to Hilbert's six.
• EC won the battle of the boards at 32-29.
• The Soaring Eagles committed a season-high 21 turnovers.
• Hilbert went 22-for-30 from the free throw line, while EC was a mere 7-for-9.
• Points in the paint were dead even at 34 apiece.
• Hilbert scored 27 points off of EC turnovers.
• Four EC players finished with double figures.
• Porrett led all scorers with 20 points and shared the game-high in rebounds with seven.
• Henderson finished with 19 points, 18 of which were scored from beyond the arc.
• Hayden Harkins '18 logged 12 points, all coming on made trays.
• John Mullane '16 finished with 10 points and a game-high five assists.

 
News and Notes

• Hilbert was held to under 90 points for the first time this season (80).
• Elmira has scored 70-plus points in three straight games.
• EC outrebound Hilbert 32-29, marking the first time since the 2014-15 season finale that the Soaring Eagles did not win after winning the rebound battle.
• Elmira has made 10 or more three-pointers in back-to-back games.
• Porrett's 20 points and seven boards are both career-highs.
• Porrett's 20 points are the most scored by an EC rookie since Noah Zazulia '11 dropped 20 on RIT back on February 24, 2008.  
• Porrett has scored double digits in back-to-back games.
• Henderson's 19 and Harkins' 12 points are both season-highs.

 
Up Next
The Soaring Eagles will be back in action this weekend, as the Elmira men make the trip to Pittsburgh, PA for the Carnegie Mellon DoubleTree Tournament. Elmira opens tournament play against the host, Carnegie Mellon University, on Saturday, November 28th, at 3:00 p.m.