Score: Hartwick College 106, Elmira College 99
Records: Elmira (6-14, 4-7 E8), Hartwick (9-13, 4-8 E8)
Location: Speidel Gymnasium -- Elmira, N.Y.

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's basketball team went on a fierce second-half run on Tuesday night against Hartwick College, but the Soaring Eagles couldn't dig themselves out of an early hole, as the Hawks held on for a wild 106-99 Empire 8 Conference win.

Tonight's loss to the Hawks is a significant blow to a Soaring Eagle team that was clinging to conference tournament hopes. Elmira drops to 6-14 overall and 4-7 against Empire 8 opponents; the Purple and Gold remain three games behind fourth-place Stevens Institute of Technology (14-8, 7-6 E8) in the win column with only five contests left, three of which are against the top three teams in the standings.

A slow start haunted Elmira for most of the game, as the Hawks raced out to an early lead that grew to as many as 21 points, 37-16, with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Soaring Eagles closed the opening period with five unanswered points on a Jesse Adelson '20 3-pointer and a two-handed slam by Shawn Backus '21.

Although the Soaring Eagles trailed 50-36 at the intermission, a rejuvenated Elmira squad came out of the locker room with hot hands and nearly mounted a miraculous comeback. EC shot 54.2 percent (26-of-48) and committed just four turnovers in the second half, this after logging a mere 33.3 field-goal percentage (14-of-32) in the first half.

Backus, who tied Justin Porrett '19 with a game-high 26 points, took over the game at the start of the second period. He sparked a 24-10 run that allowed the Soaring Eagles to tie the game for the first time by scoring 10 of Elmira's first 12 second-half points. The second-year forward from Hamden, Connecticut, drained two of his team-high four 3-pointers during the rally and trimmed the deficit down to seven points, 55-48, with a layup at the 16:55 mark.

Hartwick's next possession ended with a Jeremy Every '20 steal-and-score. After the Hawks extended their lead back to seven points, 57-50, EC netted 10 of the next 13 points to level the score at 60-all. The tying bucket was another Adelson trey, which set up Backus to give Elmira its first lead since making the game's first basket at 64-63 with 12-and-a-half minutes to go.

Knotted at 70-70, Mason Weir '21 and Adelson brought the bench to its feet with 3-point makes that helped the Soaring Eagles break the stalemate. Ahead 77-74, Porrett forced a turnover and went the distance to give EC its largest lead of the contest, 79-74.

Hartwick, however, responded swiftly with a 3-pointer from Kyle Bradshaw, and Bobby Connors gave the Hawks the lead for good by scoring the next six points on an and-one and a trey of his own. Momentum swung back in the visitors' favor when Bradshaw connected from beyond the arc again at the 6:51 mark, and turnovers on EC's next two possessions were both turned into points on the other end.

The closest the Soaring Eagles came in the final minutes was three points, 98-95, following a second-chance putback by Kyle McCreery '20. Approximately 16 seconds later, however, Connors buried another 3-point shot. The Hawks closed out the win by converting 5-of-10 free throws in the final 70 seconds.

News and Notes

• Elmira's offense scored a season-high 99 points on Tuesday, one more than the previous single-game high of 98 recorded in the series opener against Hartwick on January 18.
• EC's 40 made field goals are also a season best.
• Porrett has finished with 20-plus points in three consecutive games.
• Porrett flirted with his second career triple-double by adding eight rebounds and eight assists vs. the Hawks.
• Backus posted a season- and career-high 26 points, the sixth game of his career with 20-or-more.
• Porrett scored 20 of his points in the second half, while Backus recorded 17 in the final 20 minutes of action.
• Adelson (13), McCreery (11) and Weir (10) also registered double-digit points for Elmira.
• McCreery's 11 points tied a single-game career-high.
• Adelson finished with at least three 3-pointers for the fifth time in his last six games.
• Weir's 10 points are a season-best for the second-year guard.

Up Next
Elmira concludes a four-game homestand on Friday, February 8, when the Soaring Eagles host Utica College at 7:30 p.m. at Speidel Gymnasium, as part of the festivities for the 37th annual Athletics Alumni Weekend.