HARTWICK, N.Y. -- Elmira College men's basketball saw a double-digit first half lead dissipate over the course of Saturday afternoon's contest, as the Hawks of Hartwick College marched away with an 86-66 Empire 8 Conference victory in the 2019-20 regular season finale. The Soaring Eagles concluded the season with a 2-23 (1-13 E8) record, while the Hawks improved to 14-11 (6-8 E8).
 
Jesse Adelson '20 and Shawn Backus '21 paced the Elmira offense with 14 points apiece. Adelson went 4-for-8 from the field, which included a 4-for-7 mark from 3-point range. He also knocked down a pair of free throws, in addition to pulling down five boards and dishing out four assists. Backus shot 50% from the floor, as he knocked down 5-of-10 attempts and went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
 
Jeremy Every '20 tied with Adelson for the team lead in rebounds with five. He also dished out three assists. On the defensive side of the ball, Kyle Kokoskie '22 tied for the game high in steals with three.
 
Elmira utilized its bench to its fullest potential this afternoon as a total of 18 players, 13 coming off of the bench, got into today's contest. 10 of the 13 bench players produced points for the Soaring Eagles.
 
The Soaring Eagles got off to a hot start this afternoon and jumped out to a 9-0 lead behind sharp-shooting from Adelson and Backus. Adelson knocked down a pair of threes, while Backus drained one attempt. Elmira's 3-point shooting helped the Purple and Gold take their largest lead of the game, 15-4, with 16:44 left in the first half.
 
However, Hartwick slowly chipped away at the EC lead over the next 12 minutes, outscoring the Soaring Eagles 23-12 to knot the score, 27-27, at the 4:35 mark. That trend continued down the stretch, as the Hawks took a six-point lead, 41-35, into the halftime break.
 
In the second half, Elmira pulled within four points early on, but that was as close as it got, as the Hartwick lead ballooned to 24 points before the final horn sounded with the Hawks winning by 20 points, 86-66.
 
News and Notes

• It marked the final collegiate contest for Elmira's Kyle McCreery '20, Billy Smith '20, Every and Adelson.  
• Today's contest marked the end of the 2019-20 season for both Elmira and Hartwick.
• A total of 18 players saw the floor tonight for the Elmira men.
• Elmira knocked down 10 3-pointers, which tied for its season high single-game total.
• The 30 attempts from 3-point range tied for EC's single-game season high.
• Adelson and Backus tied for the team lead in points with 14 each.
• Adelson finished his collegiate career in sole possession of sixth place in EC history for career 3-pointers (160).