Score: St. John Fisher College 100, Elmira College 63
Records: St. John Fisher (14-10, 9-6 E8), Elmira (3-20, 1-13 E8)
Location: Rochester, N.Y. -- Bobby Wanzer Court at Manning & Napier Varsity Gymnasium

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's basketball team was handed a 100-63 Empire 8 Conference loss on the road Tuesday night against the Cardinals of St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York.

The Soaring Eagles kept up the pace with the Cardinals early in the first half. Shawn Backus '21 tallied EC's first five points with a steal and score and by a 3-point field goal – all within the first minute of regulation – which had the Soaring Eagles up 5-2. 

Although Fisher responded with a 9-5 run, a Henry Cuffee '19 layup and Mason Weir '21 trey allowed Elmira to regain a slim one-point lead at 12-11. Backus and senior Hayden Harkins '18 recorded the next six EC points from beyond the arc with back-to-back 3-pointers, before Justin Porrett '19 broke an 18-18 deadlock with two points of his own.

EC last led when Backus made the front end of two foul shots that had the Purple and Gold clinging to a 21-20 advantage midway through the half. However, six unanswered points by SJFC gave the hosts the lead for good. A 3-pointer from Porrett with six-and-a-half minutes to play in the half brought Elmira within one point of the Cardinals, 31-30, but Matt Asenjo and Tyler English drained consecutive treys to widen the gap back to seven points 70 seconds later.

Elmira posted a 40.0 field-goal percentage in the first half and headed into the intermission down by just 11 points, 46-35, but the Cardinals came out of the locker room on fire. SJFC converted at a rate of 64.3 percent (18-of-28) from the floor, as compared to a mere 29.4 field-goal percentage (10-of-34) amassed by the Soaring Eagles in the second stanza. The red-hot Fisher offense quickly turned the game into a rout, while EC suffered through a scoring drought that spanned 5:54 and ended on a Weir 3-pointer at the 12:44 mark of the second half.

Porrett paced the Soaring Eagles in points (12), rebounds (8) and assists (7) on Tuesday night, while Harkins and Backus each netted nine points for EC. English led all scorers with 19 points for the Cardinals, in addition to a game-high nine boards.

News and Notes

• The Soaring Eagles scored a season-low 63 points against St. John Fisher. 
• Elmira finished the 2018 regular season with a 1-12 record away from Speidel Gymnasium.
• Porrett increased his assist total to 178, leaving him just four shy of the program's single-season record, which is held by Reggie Rollins '88 (182).
• Harkins moved into ninth-place all-time in single-season history with 69 3-point makes, just two shy of his career-high of 71.
• Harkins (247) also needs just two more 3-pointers to tie Ryan Bennett '01 (249) for second-place in career 3-pointers.

Up Next
Elmira's season-ending two-game homestand begins on Friday, February 16, when the Soaring Eagles welcome the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology to Speidel Gymnasium for an E8 bout. The opening tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.