Elmira College (1-4) vs. St. Lawrence University (1-4)
Friday, December 4, 2015 | 7:00 P.M. | Speidel Gymnasium – Elmira, NY
Live Coverage | Twitter: @ECSoaringEagles | Game Notes
 
Elmira, NY -- Coming off its first win of the season last Sunday at the Carnegie Mellon Double Tree Tournament, Elmira will look to stretch its streak to two when it welcomes St. Lawrence University to Speidel Gymnasium on Friday, December 4^th. Opening tip with the Saints is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
Elmira enters Friday's contest coming off a split of a two-game set over Thanksgiving Weekend at the Carnegie Mellon Double Tree Tournament in Pittsburgh, PA. The Soaring Eagles struggled to get things going offensively in the opening game on Saturday against the tournament hosts, falling 72-53. EC would bounce back in a big way the following day against Chatham University, scoring its first win of the season in overtime against the Cougars in a 93-88 barnburner. The Purple and Gold came out firing in the first half, shooting over 60% from the field (17-of-28) to take an 11-point lead into halftime. The Cougars fired back in the second stanza, whittling down the deficit, before Alex Schoppen knocked down a triple at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. Hayden Harkins '18 was the hero for the Soaring Eagles in the extra session, hitting two of his career-high eight three-pointers in overtime, to seal the victory.
 
Career Days
Three Elmira players posted career-best performances in the Soaring Eagles' 93-88 overtime victory over Chatham this past Sunday. Gino Leonardi '16 posted a monster game for Elmira, scoring a career-high 28 points, with 22 of those coming in an efficient first half. The senior point guard went 9-of-13 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three-point range. Harkins also posted a huge game, chipping in a career-best 24 points with all eight of his field goals coming from behind the arc. He finished 8-of-13 from distance, notching career-highs for both makes and attempts. Most impressive in the victory over the Cougars was Elmira's efficiency on the offensive end. The Soaring Eagles earned an assist on 21 of their 31 field goals in the game, with Nick Cesare '16 spearheading the effort with a career-best five dimes on the afternoon.
 
Porrett Recognized for Strong Start
Elmira has received ample contributions from its Class of 2019 throughout the early portion of this season. Justin Porrett '19 has paced the group, logging just over 23 minutes per game, while garnering his first two career starts over the weekend at the Carnegie Mellon Tournament. He had a big week, collecting a total of 36 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in the three games against Hilbert College, Carnegie Mellon, and Chatham. He was recognized on Monday by the league office, earning Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Week honors. Overall, he ranks third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.4 points per game, while he leads the Soaring Eagles with 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest.
 
Downtown Deliveries
One area that Elmira has excelled at through the early portions of this season has been its long-range shooting. The Soaring Eagles have been lethal from the beyond the arc this season, averaging 10.6 made three-pointers per game, while converting at a 42.7% clip (53-for-124), which is the top mark in the Empire 8 Conference.  The Purple and Gold are coming off their best performance of the season, as EC knocked down 16-of-32 shots from distance in the victory over Chatham. Harkins has had the hot hand from beyond the arc all season, as he paces the squad with 21 three-point makes and 43 attempts. His 48.8% conversion rate from three-point range is tops amongst all eligible Empire 8 players and he is on pace to break the program's all-time record for made three's in a single-season, which Ryan Bennett '01 set at 97 during the 1998-99 season.
 
Tightening Up on Defense
While Elmira hasn't had much trouble putting the ball in the bucket this season, it has had issues preventing opponents from doing so. EC has allowed its opponents to score 404 points through the team's first five games, an average of 80.8 points per contest. Those numbers rank eighth and seventh in the conference, respectively. Four of Elmira's five opponents have scored 80 or more points, while the Soaring Eagles are allowing teams to shoot at a 48.6% clip (134-for-276) from the field for the year. EC will need to clean up this end of its game if it hopes to build off its first victory last weekend.
 
All-Time Series
Elmira has traditionally struggled against St. Lawrence, entering Friday's contest just 1-10 all-time against the North Country foe. The Soaring Eagles first met the Saints in a neutral site game played at Manhattanville College during the 1980-81 season, with St. Lawrence taking home a 61-59 victory. Elmira's lone victory in the series came in an 81-78 win at Speidel Gymnasium during the 1987-88 season. The Saints have dominated the recent series, which picked up again in 2006-07, winning eight straight over that stretch. Elmira is 1-4 all-time against St. Lawrence at Speidel Gymnasium.
 
Scouting St. Lawrence
The Saints have gotten off to a rocky start to their 2015-16 campaign, entering Friday's contest with a 1-4 record. St. Lawrence looked to have righted the ship when it notched its first victory of the season over Middlebury College two Saturday's ago at the Medaille Tournament; however, the Saints were not able to carry the momentum into its latest contest, a 77-65 loss at Plattsburgh State on Tuesday evening. Turnovers have proven to be an issue for St. Lawrence through the early portion of this season, as the team is averaging 14.0 per game. The Saints were right on their season average in the loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday. The backcourt is led by the junior duo of Kyle Edwards and Willie Zachery. Edwards has been an especially bright light, leading the team in scoring at 12.4 points per game. Zachery ranks second at 9.4 per game, while he has shown an aptitude for getting to the charity stripe, where he is converting at an 85% clip (17-of-20). The frontcourt is keyed by the efforts of sophomore forward Riley Naclerio, who is averaging nine points and a team-leading 6.8 rebounds per contest.
 
Looking Ahead
The Elmira men return to action on Wednesday, December 9^th, when they hit the road to face SUNY Cortland. Opening tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., as it will be the second game of a doubleheader, with the Elmira women also taking on the Red Dragons in the opening game at 5:30 p.m.