ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The sixth-seeded Elmira College men's basketball team gave No. 3 Nazareth College a run for its money in the Empire 8 Conference Championship quarterfinals, but the Golden Flyers came out on top on Tuesday afternoon, 64-54.

The Soaring Eagles (1-10, 1-9 E8) outpaced Naz (8-3, 7-2 E8) in several categories despite the loss. EC had a plus-two rebound margin (36-to-34), more assists (11-to-6) and steals (8-to-3), and committed fewer turnovers (8-to-12). But the Golden Flyers were more efficient shooting and finished with a 49.0% field-goal percentage, compared to a rate of 35.1% from the Purple and Gold.

In the final game of his collegiate career, senior guard Isiah Charles '21 left it all on the court. The Montebello, New York, native tied his career-high with and paced all Elmira players with 17 points. Charles hit 5-of-11 field goals (45.5%) and 6-of-8 (75.0%) of his foul shots, leading all scorers in the contest with six free throw makes.

Fellow senior Shawn Backus '21 collected a team-high nine boards to go along with nine points. The third-year post combo of Quintel Clements '22 and Rashaad Nurse '22 recorded eight and seven points, respectively. Point guard Kyle Kokoskie '22, who played every minute of the game, posted seven points and a game-high four assists.

Elmira netted the first four points of the game, but Naz responded with the next nine points and never relinquished the lead in the first half. The Soaring Eagles came within a point on two occasions. Down by seven, a Brendan Hyde '22 put back, a great feed from Clements to Harry Ravitz '23, and a Backus field goal cut the deficit to 25-24. The hosts widened the margin back to four points at the break, 32-28, thanks to a late dunk from Jonathan Park.

EC opened the second half like it did the first, scoring four unanswered to tie the score at 32-32. From there, the Golden Flyers caught fire and rolled out to their largest lead of the afternoon, 52-38. Clements buried two shots to slash the lead to five points, lastly at 56-51 with 5:45 to play. The Golden Flyer defense was able to limit Elmira to one free throw and one field goal for the remainder of regulation to secure a spot in the E8 semifinals.

News and Notes

• Elmira made its first-ever E8 Tournament appearance on Tuesday, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 1997.
• The Soaring Eagles outrebounded their opponent for the fourth time this season and had fewer turnovers than the opposition for the sixth time.
• Charles reached double figures for the fourth time as a senior and tied his previous single-game career-high with 17 points.
• Charles, one of only two Soaring Eagles to start all 11 games this year, ended his senior campaign with a career-high 9.1 points per game.
• Backus, Elmira's leading scorer, ends his four-year career with the most points among the Class of 2021 with 894.
• Backus graduates sixth all-time in EC history with a 77.5 free-throw percentage.