Final Score: SUNY Cortland 102, Elmira College 94
Records: Elmira (0-1), Cortland (1-0)
Location: Speidel Gymnasium -- Elmira, N.Y.

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Despite a seven-point halftime lead and a firework show from 3-point range, the Elmira College men's basketball team was unable to hold off SUNY Cortland, as the Red Dragons came from behind to earn a 102-94 win in the 2018-19 season-opener.

The Soaring Eagles shot the ball well from deep, finishing 15-of-27 for a 58.3 3-point field-goal percentage in the non-conference showdown. Both Henry Cuffee '19 and Jesse Adelson '20 recorded six made treys, with Cuffee going 6-for-7 and Adelson making 6-of-8 tries. As a result, the pair were two of the five EC players to log double-digit points. Cuffee led all Soaring Eagles with 24 points, followed by Shawn Backus '21 with 22 and Adelson with 21.

Junior Jeremy Every '20 netted 11 points, six of which came from 3-point distance, and senior Justin Porrett '19 ended his season debut one rebound shy of a triple-double with 11 points, 14 assists and nine boards.

With the game tied 6-6 early in the first half, the Purple and Gold went on a 12-2 run, thanks in part to back-to-back treys from Every and Adelson. Adelson then made a pair of free throws to put Elmira up by 10 points, 18-8, six minutes into the half.

The Red Dragons began slicing into Elmira's lead and came within one point, 30-29, at the 8:12 mark. The Soaring Eagles responded with one of their most dominant stretches, turning the narrow lead into a 16-point cushion. EC went on a 10-0 run that was sparked by three 3-point buckets, including one by Adelson that resulted in a four-point play after taking a foul on the shot. Cortland's Justin Cooper ended his team's scoreless drought with a layup, but it didn't take long for Adelson and Cuffee answer with another pair of treys.

Free throws from Backus with three-and-a-half minutes before halftime widened the gap to 48-32, the largest lead of the afternoon for Elmira, which carried a 48-41 advantage into the intermission.

The Red Dragons grabbed the lead for the first time since making the game's opening basket at 13:41 of the second half on a Ryan Schmadel 3-pointer. Schmadel's shot was the first of several from beyond the arc by Cortland in the second half, as the visitors went 9-of-16 (56.3-percent) from 3-point range in the second stanza. Nicky Bonura was able to seal the deal for the Red Dragons with a trey at the 2:43 mark, which gave Cortland a five-point cushion, 87-82, and another with one-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation that made it a 10-point game, 92-82.

New and Notes

• Elmira's 15 made 3-pointers vs. Cortland would have been two shy of the team's single-game high from the 2017-18 season.
• EC finished with a field-goal percentage above 50.0-percent for the first time since beating Houghton, 86-80, with a rate of 51.5 (35-of-68) on January 9, 2018, a span of 13 games.
• Backus has scored 20-plus points in three consecutive games, dating back to the end of his freshman season.
• Backus' 22 points against Cortland are a single-game career-high.
• Cuffee's six 3-point field goals are a career-high for the senior forward.
• Adelson tied a career high by making six 3-pointers in Saturday's season-opener.
• Rookie Kyle Kokoskie '22 started his collegiate debut and finished with two points and four assists.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles will look to rebound on Tuesday, November 13, when they host the Pennsylvania College of Technology at Speidel Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.