ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Shawn Backus '21 and Harry Ravitz '23 finished with season-high points for the Elmira College men's basketball team, but the Soaring Eagles came up short against the reigning Empire 8 Conference champion, Alfred University, 85-73. With the win, the Saxons improved to 8-7 (2-2 E8) on the season, while the Elmira men sit at 1-14 (0-5 E8).
 
Backus amassed 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting (52.9%) to lead all scorers on Saturday afternoon. The junior standout also pulled down six boards to go along with two steals, one block, and one assist.
 
Ravitz had a breakout performance running the point, as the freshman poured in a career-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting (69.2%). He also produced a team-high five assists and was tied for the team lead in steals with three.
 
Rounding out Elmira's double-digit point scorers was Rashaad Nurse '22, who produced 10 points without a single make from the field. All 10 of Nurse's buckets were registered at the charity stripe, where he went 10-for-14. Nurse also grabbed five rebounds, four of which came on the defensive glass.
 
Alfred sat in the driver's seat for the bulk of the first half, going up by as many as 10 points at 28-18. However, a focused effort on scoring in the paint helped Elmira claw its way back into the contest over the next 3:12. Elmira went on an 11-0 run during that span to take a 29-28 lead. Backus accounted for seven of the 11 points, six of which came in the paint.
 
Unfortunately, Alfred regained momentum by closing out the first half on a 15-4 run and took a 43-33 lead into the halftime break.
 
In the second half, Alfred's lead hovered around 10 points, but ballooned as high as 17 and deflated to as little as nine. The cushion the scoreboard was enough to see the Saxons through to the finish line, as Elmira suffered an 85-73 setback in conference action.

News and Notes

• Elmira surpassed 70 points in back-to-back games for the second time in 2019-20.
• At the line, the Soaring Eagles made 22-of-33 attempts, the most since converting 26 tries in an 81-80 win over Nazareth on February 16, 2019.
• On defense, EC posted a season-high 10 steals, while Alfred coughed up the ball 17 times, the second-most committed by an opposing team this year.
• Backus logged a team- and game-high 24 points, marking the sixth time in his last seven games that the junior has reached double digits.
• Ravitz's 20 points are a career-high for the freshman.
• Nurse had netted 10-or-more points in five consecutive games.

Up Next
EC's three-game homestand draws to a conclusion on Tuesday, January 21, when the Soaring Eagles faced off against Hamilton College at 8:00 p.m. inside Speidel Gymnasium.