Score: St. John Fisher College 70, Elmira College 59
Records: Fisher (14-5, 9-1 E8), Elmira (3-15, 1-8 E8)
Location: Elmira, N.Y. - Speidel Gymnasium

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's basketball team battled the first-place St. John Fisher College on Tuesday night, but a sound second-half allowed the Cardinals to fly away with a 70-59 Empire 8 Conference victory at Speidel Gymnasium.

The Soaring Eagles played Fisher, which maintained its position atop the E8 standings after improving to 9-1 inside play, to a four-point game, 34-30, through the first 20 minutes of action. EC took its only lead of the contest early in the opening half, when Justin Porrett '19 capped off a mini 5-2 run with a 3-pointer to put the Purple and Gold up 7-6. Henry Cuffee '19 extended that lead to three points with a pair of successful free throws, but the Cardinal regained the lead for good less than a minute later.

Fisher looked to run away with the game following a 5-0 run of their own, which pushed the advantage to double digits at 28-18 with approximately eight minutes remaining in the half. The Soaring Eagles, however, closed the first half strong with five unanswered points before the break, punctuated by a last-minute trey from the top of the arc by Hayden Harkins '18. Cuffee spurred the rally with another pair of makes from the foul line, as the product of Bel Air, Maryland, went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the first half and 8-for-8 overall on the night.

Elmira trimmed the deficit down to two points with a Cuffee lay-in for the first basket of the second half, but that is the closest the hosts would come to the Cardinals for the remainder of the contest.

St. John Fisher used the 3-ball to pull away from the Soaring Eagles, beginning with a Jake Haight trey at the 17:16 mark of the second half, which gave the visitors a 39-32 cushion. Ryan Henderson then finished back-to-back Cardinal possessions with 3-pointers, the latter which made it a 50-39 game.

Freshman forward Kyle McCreery '20 joined the 3-point party with one of his own just inside the six-minute mark, which briefly gave the Soaring Eagles new life while cutting the Fisher lead down to 60-51. But from there, EC was held scoreless for nearly four-and-a-half minutes, all but sealing the victory for the Cardinals.

Turning Point
Fisher's Henderson made 6-of-9 attempts from 3-point range, four of which came in the second half. Twice in the second half, he finished consecutive possessions with treys, each time taking the wind out of Elmira's sails. Following his third 3-pointer of the period, the Soaring Eagles countered with a Harkins trey, which made it a nine-point game at 53-44; however, on the other end of the court, Henderson sunk another distance shot to quickly reclaim any momentum that may have shifted in EC's favor.

Inside the Box Score

• Both teams made 21 buckets in the contest, but Fisher finished 21-for-39 for a 53.8 field goal percentage, as compared to a 21-for-54 effort from Elmira (38.9 percent).
• Both teams scored 26 points in the paint.
• The Cardinals out-rebounded the Soaring Eagles, 32-to-27.
• EC had less turnovers, 14-to-9, but the Cardinals had more steals, 6-to-5.
• Cuffee paced the Purple and Gold with 18 points and seven boards.
• Cuffee was perfect from the foul line and finished 8-for-8.
• Porrett and Alex Ischiropoulos '20 each netted nine points.
• Second-year guards Porrett and Nicky Sim '19 each dished out five assists.
• Keegan Ryan and Henderson each scored a game-high 20 points for the Cardinals.
• Ryan did his damage from the post and free throw line, as he was 5-for-5 from the field and 10-for-14 from the charity stripe.
• Ryan also finished with a game-high eight rebounds and two blocks.
• Henderson finished 7-for-12 from the floor and 6-for-9 from 3-point range.

News and Notes

• Elmira is now 3-15 on the season and 1-8 inside Empire 8 play.
• EC committed a season-low nine turnovers on offense.
• Cuffee's 18 points are the second-most he's scored in a game this season.
• Cuffee's eight free throw makes are a career high.
• Cuffee has scored double-digit points in back-to-back games and for the third time in his last four outings.
• Sim made his first career start and finished with career highs in minutes played (27), points (6), assists (5), and rebounds (3).
• Ischiropoulos has made 3-or-more 3-pointers in a game on seven occasions this season.

Up Next
Elmira will continue its three-game homestand with a pair of games on its home hardwood this week, as part of EC's 35th Annual Athletics Alumni Weekend. The Soaring Eagles will host Stevens Institute of Technology on Friday, February 3rd, at 8:00 p.m., followed by a 4:00 p.m. tilt against Houghton College on Saturday, February 4th.