AMHERST, Mass. -- A woeful second half cost the Elmira College men's basketball team Saturday's matchup against Thomas College in the consolation round of the Ken Wright Invitational, as the Terriers broke a halftime tie to beat the Soaring Eagles, 82-53.

The Soaring Eagles (0-4) and Terriers (3-1) played to a 39-39 tie at the intermission, but in the second half, the Thomas defense stifled Elmira. The Soaring Eagles were held to a mere 14 points on 5-of-24 shooting with 11 turnovers in the last 20 minutes of regulation.

In the first half, however, the Purple and Gold converted at a 40.0% rate from the field (16-of-40) and 30.8% from 3-point range (4-of-13) with just three turnovers. The Soaring Eagles opened the game with the first five points on a Rashaad Nurse '22 bucket and a Mason Weir '21 trey. Up 5-2, Weir and Shawn Backus '21 combined for a 6-0 run to extend the advantage to nine points.

Jesse Adelson '20 found his stroke from beyond the arc with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, which gave Elmira an eight-point lead at 21-13 with 12-and-a-half minutes left in the half. From there, the Terriers began to chip away at the EC lead slowly, and Thomas eventually tied the score at 30-all with less than five minutes remaining in the period. Backus closed the half with Elmira's final five points, including a last-second jump shot that evened the score at 39-all at the break.

Backus paced Elmira with 11 points in addition to six rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal. Weir and Adelson each netted nine points, while Quintel Clements '22 contributed seven points in 13 minutes off of the bench.

News and Notes

• Eight players scored at least two points for Elmira, led by Backus' 11 points.
• Brendan Hyde '22 hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.
• Adelson tied a season-high with a pair of 3-point field goals.
• Weir, who has made at least one trey in each game this season, poured in a season-high nine points.
• Kyle McCreery '20 logged all four of his points from the foul line and posted five rebounds.

Up Next
Elmira heads to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, November 26, for a non-conference bout with Pennsylvania College of Technology. The Soaring Eagles and Wildcats tip off at 5:00 p.m.