ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's basketball team led by as many as 14 points against St. Lawrence University in an up-tempo battle on Monday evening, but the Soaring Eagles couldn't fend off the pesky Saints, who marched back to score a nail-biting 74-71 win at Speidel Gymnasium.

The Soaring Eagles (1-10) made a strong bid to secure a second consecutive non-league win by surpassing the 70-point plateau for a third time, tying a season-high with nine 3-pointers, and shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line. The Saints (2-7) ended up out-shooting the Purple and Gold in terms of percentage, however, as they made 45.8% (27-of-59) of their attempts from the floor.

Up 64-50 with just under 10 minutes to go, the EC offense held a comfortable lead and was on pace for perhaps its best performance of the 2019-20 campaign. But points proved hard to come by in the final nine-plus minutes of regulation, as Elmira logged just three field goals on 20 tries during that span.

EC entered the halftime break leading by eight, 42-34, but saw that cushion reduced to a single point, 48-47, on a successful 3-point shot from St. Lawrence's Brandon Arnold. Mason Weir '21 and Jesse Adelson '20 used treys of their own to extend the advantage back to 54-49, and big men Joseph Amoddio '21 and Rashaad Nurse '22 joined the act with by converting and-ones to shift the momentum back in Elmira's favor. Nurse's foul shot with 9:55 on the clock resulted in the largest lead of the night for the Soaring Eagles, 64-50.

From there, the Saints quietly began the makings of what ended in a lopsided 20-2 run. Down 66-64, a pair of Cale Sargent foul shots tied the score for the first time in the second half. Twenty seconds later on Elmira's next possession, Andrew Geschickter intercepted a pass at midcourt and had a free lane to the lead, 68-66, with 1:24 left.

With 34 ticks on the clock, the Soaring Eagles made it a one-possession game, 70-68, as Nurse received an inbound pass right under the basket and kissed the ball off of the glass. Foul shots from Luke Hicks brought the St. Lawrence lead back up to four points, but with 11.1 seconds to play, Weir came up clutch with a heavily-contest trey from the left corner. Two additional freebies from Hicks with six seconds to go meant the final shot would come off the hands of EC's signature 3-point shooter, Adelson, but his hurried try from the right wing clanked off of the rim as time expired.

News and Notes

• The three-point margin of defeat marked the closest game of the season for the Soaring Eagles.
• EC finished just six points shy of a single-game season-high with 71 points against the Saints.
• Elmira out-rebounded the Saints, 39-to-35, thanks to a 15-to-11 advantage in offensive boards
• 11 different Soaring Eagles scored a point, led by Shawn Backus '21 with a game-high 18 points.
• Nurse was second on the team with 13 points, including a 5-for-5 effort from the charity stripe.
• Weir was the third EC player with double-digit points, as the junior poured in 11, nine of which were earned from 3-point range.
• In just eight minutes off of the bench, Amoddio recorded a season-high seven points, one shy of his career-best.
• Kyle Kokoskie '22 did not net a point but instead facilitated the offense with a career-high eight assists.
• As a team, Elmira was credited with assists on 22-of-27 field goals.

Up Next
Empire 8 Conference action resumes on Friday, January 10, in Utica, New York, where the Pioneers of Utica College are set to host the Soaring Eagles in a 5:30 p.m. contest.