Score: Houghton College 74, Elmira College 64
Records: Houghton (7-8, 2-5 E8), Elmira (2-14, 0-7 E8)
Location: Nielsen Center – Houghton, NY
 
Houghton, NY -- Elmira College men's basketball fought valiantly tonight but came up short on the road, as the Soaring Eagles dropped a 74-64 decision to Houghton College at the Nielsen Center. Gino Leonardi '16 scored a game-high 23 points, while three other Soaring Eagles produced double digits.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the first half, resulting in a low halftime score, 25-25. Elmira led by as many as four points in the opening half at 13-9, however, Houghton's three-point shooting heated-up in the closing minutes which resulted in the halftime tie.
 
Things remained close in the opening three minutes, but the Highlanders pulled away with an 8-0 run that spanned two and a half minutes, giving Houghton a 40-33 lead. Houghton went up by as many as nine points midway through the second half, but a stingy Elmira squad would not go away quietly.
 
Trailing 49-40 with under 10 minutes to play, Elmira began to chip away at the Highlander lead over the next four and half minutes, cutting Houghton's advantage to just three with 5:29 to play, 55-52. Unfortunately, Elmira's shooters went cold from the floor over the next five minutes, making just 1-of-4 attempts, as the Highlanders pulled away for a 10-point win, 74-64.
 
Turning Point
Looking up and down the stat sheet, a lot of the offensive numbers were pretty equal between the two teams. However, two glaring stats that seemed to dictate today's outcome was Houghton's efforts on the boards and Elmira's struggles at the free throw line. The Highlanders outrebounded Elmira 47-to-30, which is the largest margin Elmira has suffered this season. Making things even harder for EC was that it made just 63-percent of its attempts from the charity stripe.  

Inside the Box Score

• Elmira was 21-for-56 (37.5%) from the field, while Houghton went 25-for-64 (39.1%).
• The Soaring Eagles knocked down eight three-pointers on 21 attempts (38.1%).
• Houghton was 7-for-18 (38.9%) from distance.
• EC struggled from the free throw line, making just 14-of-22 shots (63.6%).
• The Highlanders were lights out from the charity stripe, going 17-of-19 (89.5%).
• Houghton also dominated on the boards, outrebounding Elmira 47-30.
• Four players logged double figures for Elmira.
• Leonardi led all scorers with 23 points.
• Porrett logged 14 points and dished-out a team-high five assists.
• Henderson scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high nine boards.
• Mullane was Elmira's final double-digit scorer with 10 points.

 
News and Notes

• Elmira's seven-game win streak against Houghton came to an end.
• Elmira still holds a significant advantage in the all-time series, 34-6.
• The Soaring Eagles have dropped seven straight, all in conference games.
• Leonardi's 23 points are the most scored by an Elmira player since January 4, 2016.
• Leonardi has led Elmira in scoring in eight of EC's 15 games this season.

 
Up Next
Elmira returns to action this Thursday, January 21st, when the Soaring Eagles welcome Alfred University to Speidel Gymnasium for an Empire 8 Conference contest. The opening tip is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.