Score: Stevens Institute of Technology 69, Elmira College 64
Records: Stevens (8-2, 2-0 E8), Elmira (2-9, 0-2 E8)
Location: Hoboken, N.J. - Canavan Arena

HOBOKEN, N.J. -- The Elmira College men's basketball team was unable to capitalize on a fast start Saturday afternoon, as the Soaring Eagles were defeated on the road by the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology, 69-64, in Empire 8 Conference action.

EC soared to an early lead in the first 10 minutes of the opening half, guided by efforts of Hayden Harkins '18 and Henry Cuffee '19. The duo combined to tally 15 of EC's first 17 points and helped the Soaring Eagles take a 17-11 lead. Following a mini five-point run by Stevens, the Elmira regained the lead with a 9-0 rally on its own. With only one second left on the shot clock, Harkins turned one-point deficit into a 13-11 advantage with a clutch 3-pointer from the right corner. Cuffee then extended the lead with four points in a span of 24 seconds, as the sophomore from Bel Air, Maryland, hit a jumper, before stripping Stevens' Jayson Winick on the ensuing possession and finishing the coast-to-coast play with the Eurostep.

From there, however, EC struggled during a six-minute scoreless drought that allowed the Ducks to knot the score and eventually take a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest. Spencer Cook piloted the comeback with four 3-pointers inside the final 6:01 of the first half. His first tied the game at 17-all. He then ended the half with nine unanswered points on a trio of successful treys. Those three consecutive makes from deep turned a 24-19 Elmira advantage into a 28-24 halftime lead in favor of the Ducks. Stevens' run continued into the second half, as the Ducks the first four points to extend their advantage to 32-24.

Stevens slowly padded its cushion throughout the second half and took an 11-point lead on three different occasions, including a 57-46 advantage with 5:06 to play, but the Soaring Eagles weren't going to go down without a fight.

Anthony Abate '19 trimmed the deficit back to single digits with an and-one, and just inside the four-minute mark, Alex Ischiropoulos '20 sunk a 3-pointer to whittle the Ducks' lead down to six points, 58-52. Inside the final minute, free throws from Abate and Justin Porrett '19 had Elmira staring at a 66-61 deficit with only 32 seconds remaining in regulation.

Forced to foul the opposition, the Purple and Gold sent Cook to the line six seconds later, but things became interesting when he missed the second of his two attempts. On the other end of the court, Kyle McCreery '20 made it a one-possession game when he buried a 3-point field goal, bringing EC within three points, 67-64, with 20 ticks left on the clock. Another foul sent Cook back to the charity stripe, but this time he made good on both shots to seal the victory.

Turning Point
While the Ducks extended their cushion to as many as 11 points at various times throughout the second half, they only outscored the Soaring Eagles by one in the period, 41-40. Rather, Stevens turned the tide in its favor with nine unanswered points to end the first half, as part of a 13-0 stretch that bridged both periods. Even more, after EC jumped ahead 17-11 midway through the first, the Ducks tripled the Soaring Eagles' scoring output, 21-to-7, en route to a 32-24 lead during the game-changing run.

Inside the Box Score

• Statistically, Elmira finished with better figures in several categories despite the loss.
• EC outshot Stevens from the field, 43.6 percent (24-of-55) versus 33.3 percent (18-of-54).
• The Soaring Eagles made 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) attempts from 3-point range, while Stevens made 8-of-23 (34.8 percent).
• Elmira out-rebounded the Ducks, 39-to-34.
• EC also had more assists, 10-to-4, and more blocks, 3-to-0.
• Stevens finished with better numbers from the foul line, making 25-of-29 shots (86.2 percent), as compared to 10-of-15 (66.7 percent) for Elmira.
• Four players scored double figures for EC, led by Harkins with 14 points.
• Porrett and Cuffee each netted 12, with classmate Abate scoring 10.
• Cuffee earned a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds.
• Cuffee also recorded all three of EC's blocked shots.
• Cook scored a game-high 20 points for Stevens.
• Evan Klimchak finished second for the Ducks with 13 points, including a 7-for-7 showing from the foul line.

News and Notes

• Elmira falls to 2-9 on the season and 0-2 in Empire 8 Conference play.
• EC's defense limited Stevens to a 33.3 field goal percentage, the lowest by an opponent this season.
• Harkins scored double-digits for the seventh time this season.
• His four 3-point makes upped his career total to 153, just three shy of moving into a three-way tie with Reggie Rollins '88 and Shawn Blakeslee '00 for fifth-place all-time in program history.
• Harkins leads the E8 with 39 3-point field goals, three more than Stevens' Patrick Barron.
• Cuffee's double-double was the third of his sophomore season.
• Cuffee's three blocks mark a single-game career high for the 6-foot-5-inch forward.
• Porrett has scored double-digit points on six occasions this season, including both E8 contests.
• Abate's 10 points mark his first double-digit scoring game since he opened the season on a streak of four in a row in November.

Up Next
The Elmira men's basketball team will continue play inside the Empire 8 with a road trip to Rochester, New York, to face the Cardinals of St. John Fisher College on Tuesday, January 10th, at 8:00 p.m.