ALFRED, N.Y. -- Isiah Charles '21 continued scoring with a hot hand on Sunday afternoon, as the senior guard once again rewrote his personal record with a team-high 17 points in Elmira College's 63-58 loss at Alfred University.

After recording 15 points on Wednesday against Russell Sage, Charles netted a new single-game career-high point total against the Saxons. The fourth-year playmaker from Montebello, New York, made 7-of-19 (36.8%) field goals and filled the stat sheet with a career-best eight rebounds to go along with three assists and one steal.

Charles was the only scorer in double figures for Elmira (1-6, 1-6 E8), which received offensive contributions from Quintel Clements '22 and Mason Weir '21 with eight and seven points, respectively. Shawn Backus '21, EC's leading scorer on the season, was held to just six points.

The Soaring Eagles outshot the Saxons (4-2, 4-2 E8) from the field, as EC made 40.0% (20-of-50) of its attempts, compared to a 36.2 field-goal percentage (17-of-47) by Alfred. Elmira also finished with a plus-six rebound margin (38-to-32), and at the foul line, the team's 15 free throws are the second-most in a game this season.

Backus netted the first four points of the contest, and the Purple and Gold maintained a lead for nearly 35 minutes. Up 22-19 with just under seven minutes left in the first half, EC erupted for a 12-0 run. Clements fueled the rally with six points during that stretch, four of which came off second-chance put-backs. Jeff Jung Jr. '23 splashed a 3-pointer to widen the gap to 30-19, and two minutes later, Joseph Amoddio '21 posted up on the block and kissed the glass with a layup that gave EC its largest advantage of the half, 34-19. Heading into the break, Charles sunk a buzzer-beating shot to put Elmira up by a dozen, 37-25.

Harry Ravitz '23 successfully converted an and-one at the 13:28 mark of the second half, but EC's 45-31 cushion slowly disappeared from there. Immediately following the Ravitz foul shot, the Soaring Eagles were held off the scoreboard for over three minutes, and during the drought, the Saxons came with four points, 45-41. The Purple and Gold momentarily recovered, and a Charles bucket gave his side a 50-42 lead with eight-and-a-half to play.

But that shot signaled the start of another lull, and by the time Charles scored his next two points, the Saxons had gained their first lead of the game. The two teams traded one-point leads over the next few minutes, but after a Darren Miller jump shot with 3:19 remaining, Alfred never relinquished its advantage. The Saxons made all six fouls shots inside the last three minutes to ice the win.

News and Notes

• Elmira's last three losses have come in very close matchups, having been decided by two, four, and five points.
• The Soaring Eagles shot 40.0% or better for the third time in their last four games.
• EC's 15 free throws makes are just two shy of the team's season-high.
• Elmira out-rebounded its opponent for the second time this season.
• Over his last two games, Charles has increased his season scoring average to 10.0 points per game, nearly four times his previous season's best.
• Charles has scored in double figures in three of the last four games and has at least one 3-pointer in each of those contests.
• Clements tied his season-highs for points (8) and rebounds (7) while playing a season-best 28 minutes against the Saxons.

Up Next
On Tuesday, March 23, the Soaring Eagles will trek to the Capital District for an Empire 8 Conference bout against the Gators of Russell Sage College at 6:00 p.m.