Score: Hartwick College 83, Elmira College 65
Records: Hartwick (15-6, 10-2 Empire 8), Elmira (4-17, 2-10 Empire 8)
Location: Murray Athletic Center – Pine Valley, NY
 
Pine Valley, NY -- The Elmira College men's basketball team saw an eight-point halftime deficit turn into an 83-65 loss to Hartwick College on the final day of EC's Athletics Alumni Weekend at the Murray Athletic Center.

It was all Hartwick for the first 5:08 of the opening half, as the Hawks quickly jumped out to a 20-4 lead.

It took a Hayden Harkins '18 three-pointer at the 13:22 mark to jumpstart the Elmira offense. The sophomore sharpshooter sunk another trey less than two minutes later to cut the Hartwick lead to 25-12. Justin Porrett '19 followed with a triple to make it a 10-point game at 25-15 midway through the half. Justin Henderson '16 joined the attack with two treys, the latter at 2:10 to bring EC within nine points. Gino Leonardi '16 scored the last five points of the half for the Soaring Eagles on a three-pointer and coast-to-coast layup that beat the halftime buzzer.

After a 1-for-14 start, the Soaring Eagles finished the first half on a 32-20 run, shooting 13-for-25 from the floor over that span.

The lead proved to be insurmountable, however, and the Hawks maintained a comfortable lead remainder of the contest. Porrett scored another three-pointer at the 13:15 mark to make it 55-47 Hartwick, but that was the closest Elmira could come to the lead. Hartwick's Jake Sinicki took over in the game's final 20 minutes, as the sophomore forward netted 13 of his 17 points in the second half.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Hartwick connected at a 50.0-percent clip from the field on 27-of-54 shooting.
• Elmira was 37.7-percent from the floor on 26-of-69 shooting.
• The Hawks knocked down 11 three-pointers, while the Soaring Eagles made eight.
• Hartwick won the battle on the boards, pulling down 41 rebounds to Elmira's 31.
• Hartwick knocked down 18-of-24 from the free-throw line, while EC was 5-of-8.
• Leonardi and Porrett led EC with 17 points apiece.
• Porrett and Harkins share the team-lead in rebounds with five apiece.
• Porrett also owned the team-lead in assists with six.

 
News and Notes

• With the win, Hartwick sweeps the regular season series against Elmira.
• Elmira's .250-percent shooting from distance is the team's second-lowest output of the season.
• Porrett has scored in double figures in three straight games, and five of EC's last six contests.
• Porrett's six assists is the second-highest total of his rookie career.

Up Next
Elmira is back in action on Tuesday, February 9th, when the Soaring Eagles welcome Houghton College to Speidel Gymnasium for EC's regular season home finale. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.