ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Keystone College withstood a hot start by the Elmira College men's basketball team and held on in the second half to defeat the Soaring Eagles, 77-68, in the first round of the 2019 EC Tip-Off Tournament at Speidel Gymnasium on Friday night.

Elmira (0-1) will look to bounce back in the tournament consolation game against former Empire 8 Conference affiliate Ithaca College (0-1) on Saturday, November 16, at 2:00 p.m. At 4:00 p.m., first-round winners Oswego State (1-0) and Keystone (1-1) will compete for the tournament championship.

A trio of EC players netted double figures, led by Shawn Backus '21 with 15 points, Quintel Clements '22 with 13 and Jesse Adelson '20 with 11. Backus fell two rebounds shy of a double-double with eight boards, tied with third-year big man Joseph Amoddio '21 for the team lead. As a team, Elmira outpaced the Giants on the glass with a 40-to-28 advantage in rebounds.

While pushing the pace, the Purple and Gold galloped out of the starting gates and looked strong across the first 10 minutes of the 2019-20 season opener. Elmira went on a nine-point run that turned a 3-0 deficit into a 9-3 advantage, with Backus netting four of those points and three more coming off of a clutch 3-pointer from the left corner by Mason Weir '21. After a two-point play by Keystone's Jeremy Jordan brought his team back within four points, 9-5, the Soaring Eagles exploded again and buried the next eight points. A fadeaway off the fingertips of Jeremy Every '20 pushed the advantage to double digits for the first time at 15-5, and a turnover by the Giants on their next possession led to a smooth lay-in by Clements.

Despite the 12-point cushion, the Giants came back to tie the score with 7:16 remaining in the half. Trailing by one, 19-18, Keystone's Ray Mills was fouled on a 3-point attempt and converted all three tries from the line to pull ahead 21-19. At the intermission, the Giants clung to a three-point lead, 31-28.

The Soaring Eagles managed to tie the score on two occasions in the second half, first at 41-all and again at 45-all, the latter of which came on an Adelson 3-point field goal. Alas, the Giants hit treys on two of their next four offensive possessions to take the wind out of Elmira sails. More 3-pointers from the Giants, who were 7-of-14 from deep in the second half, plus a non-traditional three-point play by Jordan prevented Elmira from closing the gap inside the final five minutes of regulation.

News and Notes

• For the second time in the last three years, Keystone has edged Elmira in the first round of the EC Tip-Off Tournament.
• EC's plus-12 rebound margin is the team's best since finishing plus-16 in back-to-back games against Penn College and John Jay on November 21 and November 28, 2017.
• Backus scored a team-best 15 points and was tied with a team-high eight rebounds.
• Clements was an efficient 5-of-7 from the floor and made 3-of-4 foul shots, equaling a career-high 13 points.
• Adelson poured in 11 points, six of which were earned from 3-point range.
• First-year guard Harry Ravitz '23 and second-year transfer Brendan Hyde '22 each made their first starts as Soaring Eagles.
• Ravitz was one of three Soaring Eagles to log multiple 3-pointers, while Hyde collected six rebounds in nine minutes of action.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles will take on Ithaca on Saturday, November 16, at 2:00 p.m. to conclude their home tournament.