Score: St. Lawrence University 64, Elmira College 50
Records: Elmira (2-6), St. Lawrence (5-4)
Location: Ronald T. Burkman Gymnasium -- Canton, N.Y.

CANTON, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's basketball team was unable to recreate the magic from last year's stunning home win over St. Lawrence University, as the Saints captured a 64-50 non-conference victory over the Soaring Eagles inside the Ronald T. Burkman Gymnasium.

On December 16, 2017, the Soaring Eagles shot the ball at a red-hot rate of 59.7 percent, including a 3-point field-goal percentage of 53.8 (14-of-26), as EC stunned the Saints 111-100 inside Speidel Gymnasium in perhaps the season's top moment. This year, however, St. Lawrence used a full-court press and a two-three zone defense to limit Elmira to a mere 25.3 field-goal percentage on 19-of-75 shooting.

The Saints never trailed on their home court, scoring the first 12 points of the night before the Soaring Eagles settled in. Henry Cuffee '19 ended a three-and-a-half minute scoring drought with a turnaround jumper. After some sloppy play from both teams, EC regained possession and Kyle McCreery '20 hit a 3-pointer 20 seconds later. Elmira's mini 5-0 run slashed the early deficit to 12-5, but the McCreery trey was one of only two scored by the Soaring Eagles in the contest, as the Purple and Gold were unable to find their touch.

St. Lawrence pulled ahead by 16 at halftime, 33-17, and would extend its lead to as many as 24 points in the second half.

While the offense struggled to find its groove, the Elmira defense continued to press the Saints. The Purple and Gold forced St. Lawrence into 14 second-half turnovers and logged nine steals in the final 20 minutes. Takeaways by Cuffee and Justin Porrett '19 led to some transition offense for EC, as Cuffee took a turnover the length of the floor with a little over 13 minutes remaining, and Porrett fed freshman Kyle Kokoskie '22 for a layup on a breakaway at the 7:50 mark. Elmira finished the contest with 14 steals, second-most in a game this season, and limited the Saints to its lowest offensive output of the year in terms of both points (64) and shooting percentage (35.2).

Eleven different players scored at least two points for Elmira, including a team-high eight points from McCreery and Cuffee. In just 14 minutes off of the bench, senior guard Anthony Abate '19 posted a season-high seven points and was one of four Soaring Eagles with multiple steals. Porrett ended with four points, six rebounds, and team-highs in assists (6) and steals (4).

News and Notes

• Elmira held St. Lawrence to 64 points, tied for the fewest in a game this season for the Saints; the other team to hold the Saints to 64 points was then No. 13-ranked Plattsburgh State.
• EC recorded double-digit takeaways for the second time this season while forcing an opponent to commit more than 20 turnovers for the second time.
• With six assists, Porrett moved closer to setting a new program record for dimes in a career. The senior from Dumont, New Jersey, has 482 and needs seven more to surpass Elmira's all-time leader, Reggie Rollins '88 (488).
• Abate and Rashaad Nurse '22 posted season highs with seven and five points, respectively.

Up Next
The EC men will face another tough non-conference opponent on Saturday, December 8, when the Soaring Eagles travel to Hamilton, New York, to challenge the No. 4 nationally-ranked Continentals of Hamilton College.