ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's basketball team continues Empire 8 Conference play on Thursday, January 25, with a home bout against Hartwick College. The league tilt is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m. at Speidel Gymnasium.
LAST TIME OUT
Soaring Eagles suffered a 101-91 defeat to Nazareth on Tuesday at Speidel Gymnasium. It was a back-and-forth first half that saw the Golden Flyers take a slim four-point lead, 50-46, into the halftime break. The start of the second half doomed the Purple and Gold, as a Naz 11-2 run gave the road team a 61-48 advantage that Elmira was unable to overcome. EC was led in the contest by an outstanding individual performance from
Justin Porrett '19, who recorded 18 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for the school's first triple-double in over 17 years. Joining Porrett with stellar performances were
Shawn Backus '21 and
Henry Cuffee '19. Backus posted career highs in points (19), rebounds (5) and minutes (31), all while shooting an impressive 8-for-9 from the floor. Cuffee posted a team-high-tying 19 points to go along with six boards and four assists. Rounding out EC's double-digit scorers was
Jesse Adelson '20, who scored 16 points on the evening.
TAKE A BOW
Porrett's performance on Tuesday will go down as one of the greatest in program history. After years of flirting with a triple-double, the Dumont, New Jersey, native finally reached the difficult milestone. Porrett became one of just 17 players in all of Division III to post a triple-double this year. He has reached double-digit assists five times this season, a feat he accomplished just once in his first two collegiate campaigns. Porrett also cracked the single-season program leaderboard for assists on Tuesday, as he is tied for 10th with Buddy Kershner '85 with 127 this year.
SCORING AT WILL
A main staple of the Soaring Eagles this season has been their ability to score the ball at will. So far this year, EC has reached 90 points five times, a feat that Elmira did not accomplish last season. Overall, the Purple and Gold are averaging 82.3 points per game, the team's average highest point total in over 17 seasons.
SERIES HISTORY
Today's tilt marks the 73rd all-time meeting between these two aerial foes. In the previous encounters, the Hawks own a 46-26 advantage over the Soaring Eagles. Hartwick has won the last four contests in the series, with the most recent bout going in the Hawks' favor, 78-63, in Oneonta, New York, on January 28, 2017. EC's most recent victory in the series came in the 2014-15 campaign, when the Purple and Gold swept the Hawks in both matchups that year.
SCOUTING HARTWICK
The Hawks enter today's tilt playing their best basketball of the season, as they have won their last two games over Nazareth (85-69) and St. John Fisher (70-66) on Friday and Saturday, January 19-20. Before these wins, Hartwick battled the E8-leading Ducks of Stevens to a 106-104 loss in triple overtime. After these results, the Hawks are now 6-9 overall and 3-3 inside conference play. Hartwick's main detriment has been its inability to stop opposing offenses, as it ranks second to last in the league in points allowed per game (84.0). To counteract this weakness, the Hawks have tried to match their opponent's scoring, as they rank fifth in the E8 in scoring offense (81.6 ppg). A big component of this offensive attack is its efficiency from the free-throw line, as the Hawks rank second in the nation in team free-throw percentage (79.8). Pacing this effective offense is freshman guard Kevin Townes, who is scoring a team-high 18.2 points per game, which ranks third in the league. Junior guard Brandon LaForest has been the conductor of this offense, as he ranks second to Porrett in the E8 in assists per game (4.7).
UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles return to action on Saturday, January 27, when they head to Alfred, New York, to challenge the Saxons of Alfred University. Tip-off for the league bout is slated for 2:00 p.m. at the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.
