Score: Hartwick College 104, Elmira College 81
Records: Hartwick (8-13, 5-7 E8), Elmira (3-17, 1-10 E8)
Location: Oneonta, New York -- Lambros Arena

ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's basketball team came up on the short end of a 104-81 Empire 8 Conference decision on the road Tuesday night against the Hawks of Hartwick College.

The Hawks never trailed in the contest, as a slow start doomed the Soaring Eagles from the jump. Hartwick collected two offensive rebounds on during its first possession before Justin Carruthers deposited the game's first points with a third-chance layup. EC then turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, allowing the Hawks to double the lead to 4-0 quickly.

A layup from Jesse Adelson '20 on Elmira's next trip up the floor marked the only points the Soaring Eagles would muster in the first five minutes of action. The Purple and Gold shot 1-for-7 from the field and coughed the ball up on three occasions while the Hawks built a 9-2 cushion. Although Jeremy Every '20 halted the drought with a layup at the 14:59 mark, Hartwick scored three unanswered 3-pointers to push the lead to double-digits, 18-4.

Elmira found its stroke from 3-point range late in the first half. The Soaring Eagles netted 12 consecutive points on treys, one each from Mason Weir '21 and Kyle McCreery '20 and two in a row from Alex Ischiropoulos '20. The latter from Ischiropoulos whittled the deficit down to seven points, 31-24, with 7:13 remaining in the first half. That would be as close as EC would come to the lead for the remainder of the contest against the Hawks, who led 49-37 at the break.

Henry Cuffee '19 and Ischiropoulos paced the Soaring Eagles with 16 points apiece. Weir, who finished 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, also reached double-figures with 11 points for EC. Although Justin Porrett '19 tallied only five points on the night, the junior point guard passed out a game-high 13 assists in addition to logging six boards and four steals.

News and Notes

• Elmira fell to 3-17 overall and 1-10 against Empire 8 opposition this season.
• Cuffee has scored double-digit points in 18 of 20 games in his junior campaign.
• Ischiropoulos tied his season-highs for points (16) and made 3-pointers (4).
• Porrett's 13 assists mark his second-highest single-game total of the season and his sixth outing of the year with 10-plus dimes.
• Porrett (162) inched closer to the single-season program record for assists, held by Reggie Rollins '88 (182) while moving into third-place all-time in career assists with 367.

Up Next
Elmira's week continues with another road contest on Thursday, February 8, this time in Rochester, New York, to take on the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College. The E8 matchup is scheduled to start with a 6:00 p.m. tip-off.