ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's basketball team led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but the Hawks from Hilbert College came from behind and prevailed in overtime, 85-77, in a hard-fought non-conference bout on Saturday afternoon inside Speidel Gymnasium.

Both teams shot at a rate of 50.0% from the floor in the second half, but the Hawks outscored the Soaring Eagles 43-34 in the final 20 minutes of regulation. Hilbert (6-1) made 16-of-32 field goals in the second half and protected the ball well with only two turnovers; on the other hand, EC (0-6) converted 12-of-24 attempts and coughed the ball up on eight occasions.

Elmira, which entered the halftime break with a nine-point cushion at 36-27, pushed the gap to double digits for the first time when Rashaad Nurse '22 scored an and-one, making the score 39-29 in favor of the Purple and Gold. Nurse and Shawn Backus '21 extended Elmira's run to seven in a row by netting the next four points, giving the Soaring Eagles their largest lead of the day at 43-29.

The Soaring Eagles last led by double-digit points, 57-46, with 8:43 to play in the second half. That's when second-year trigger man Kyle Kokoskie '22 dished a nifty feed to Nurse on the left block and the sophomore forward poured in two more of his team-high 16 points. But the high-energy play of Hilbert's Hunter Martineau spurred the comeback for the Hawks, as the fleet-footed guard was responsible for 18 points and assisted on six more buckets in the second half alone. Down by six, 61-55, Martineau produced seven of Hilbert's next eight points, whittling the deficit down to just one point in the process.

With less than a minute in regulation, Lazar Jovanovich buried a jumper from the top of the key to level the score for the first time since the 7:46 mark of the opening half at 68-all. Free throws from Jesse Adelson '20 and Hilbert's Ant Moynihan kept the game even at 70-all, but Mason Weir '21 was off the mark on a buzzer-beating 3-point attempt to force the extra session.

In overtime, Elmira recorded the first points on a second-chance jumper off the fingertips of Backus. After Adelson made it 74-all, the Hawks went on a 5-0 run that ended with a Moynihan trey and gave Hilbert the lead for good. Weir sunk a 3-pointer of his own just under the two-minute mark, but those were the last three points the Soaring Eagles could muster, as they finished 0-for-2 with a turnover down the stretch.

News and Notes

• Elmira's 48.3 field-goal percentage is a single-game season-high.
• Five Soaring Eagles finished with 10-or-more points, led by Nurse with 16 and Weir with 15.
• Quintel Clements '22 and Adelson each logged 13 points, while Backus posted 10 points.
• Nurse also contributed eight boards, helping EC outrebound Hilbert 34-to-28.
• Elmira earned assists on 23 of its 28 field goals, with seven coming from Kokoskie and six more from Adelson.
• Hilbert's Martineau led all players in points (32), assists (11) and rebounds (9) in a near triple-double effort.

Up Next
Elmira has an extended break until returning to action on Sunday, December 15, when the Soaring Eagles travel to Westminster, Maryland, for a non-conference matchup against McDaniel College at 3:00 p.m.