Score: The Sage Colleges 89, Elmira College 75
Records: Elmira (4-11, 2-4 E8), Sage (8-10, 4-5 E8)
Location: Speidel Gymnasium -- Elmira, N.Y.

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Four players scored in double figures for the Elmira College men's basketball team on Friday night against The Sage Colleges, but the visiting Gators were able to secure an 89-75 win to split the 2018-19 Empire 8 Conference series with the Soaring Eagles at one game apiece.

Justin Porrett '19 paced the Soaring Eagles with 16 points and fell one assist shy of a double-double with nine. Forward Rashaad Nurse '22 amassed a season-high 15 points for the third game of his freshman season in double-digits. Jesse Adelson '20 and Shawn Backus '21 each made a pair of 3-pointers and totaled 12 points.

Sage scored five quick points in the first 34 seconds of the contest, but Elmira went on an early run with nine unanswered points to take its first lead. Nurse was responsible for four of EC's points during the 9-0 spurt, which ended with an Anthony Abate '19 and-one.

Although the Gators came within a single point on several occasions, the Soaring Eagles held onto the lead for 10 minutes after Kyle McCreery '20 snapped a 12-all tie with a 3-point field goal. Up 27-26, Porrett deposited two of his points with a layup, and Elmira's next possession ended with two second-chance points from Mason Weir '21 to make it a 31-26 advantage. The Gators would score the next six points before Porrett and Nurse regained at 35-32 the lead with two points each.

The Gators carried a 37-35 lead into the locker room after ending the first half with five in a row inside the last two minutes, but clutch shooting from beyond the arc help EC level the score in the early portion of the second stanza. Adelson trimmed the deficit to 49-46 with a trey, and a steal by Porrett on the ensuing Sage possession resulted in a tying 3-pointer from Backus.

Adelson was successful again from downtown at the 12:13 mark, putting Elmira back on top by one, 52-51. A little over a minute later, Backus drained his second trey of the night to give the Soaring Eagles a bit more breathing room, 57-53.

The turning point in the game, however, was the 15-0 run the Gators pieced together across the following two-and-a-half minutes. During the scoring drought, the Soaring Eagles were 0-for-4 from the field and turned the ball over four times. McCreery halted the scoreless spell with a 3-point bucket, but Sage was able to push the gap to double-digits inside the last five minutes of regulation.

News and Notes

• Elmira and Sage split their two-game conference series with wins on each team's home court.
• The Soaring Eagles logged 11 steals, third-most in a game this season.
• Backus and Porrett have scored double-digit points for the 12th time this year.
• Porrett has made at least one steal in 10-straight contests and had multiple steals for the ninth time this season.
• Adelson has converted multiple 3-pointers in 10 games this season.
• Nurse finished with a single-game season-high 15 points while making his second consecutive start.
• Quintel Clements '22 collected a team-high-tying five rebounds to go along with four points.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles have a short turnaround, as they host Stevens Institute of Technology inside Speidel Gymnasium on Saturday, January 26, at 4:00 p.m.