PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's basketball program connected on over 50 percent of its shots in the second half, but would be unable to overcome a 24-point deficit at halftime in a 114-78 loss against St. John Fisher on Tuesday night in Empire 8 Conference action.
 
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 78, St. John Fisher 114
LOCATION: Pittsford, New York | Manning & Napier Varsity Gym
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (5-18, 3-11 E8), Alfred (19-6, 13-3 E8)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Bryan Adams '25 finished a layup in the paint to open the scoring for the Soaring Eagles before the Cardinals answered with a 6-0 run to grab an 8-2 advantage. Rashaad Nurse '22 would get going offensively for the Purple & Gold at the 12:39 mark as he finished a layup after swiping the basketball from the Cardinals' Connor Williams.

In the final minute of play in the first half, Kyle Kokoskie '22 connected on a 3-pointer off an assist from Nurse to trim the deficit to 53-29 for Elmira. Harry Ravitz '23 followed with a layup with 10 seconds left on the clock to close the scoring in the opening half for the Soaring Eagles.

St. John Fisher opened the second half with a quick 5-0 run before Ravitz got EC going with a layup to cut the lead to 60-33. Adams followed with back-to-back buckets for the Purple & Gold during a 4-0 stretch that trimmed the gap to 62-37. EC would run into a small scoring drought before Liam Sanborn '24 notched two points with a putback following an offensive rebound.

Nurse tallied six straight points for Elmira with four coming at the charity stripe as the Soaring Eagles closed the margin to 79-45. The best stretch offensively for the Purple & Gold would be a 9-0 run as Kokoskie drained a trey at the 5:43 mark before Adams finished a layup to make it 100-66 at the 4:32 mark. Both sides delivered a pair of dunks in the final minute of action as the Cardinals secured the 114-78 victory.

The Soaring Eagles finished 32-of-71 from the floor and 6-of-16 from 3-point range, while the Cardinals went 42-of-66 from the floor and 14-of-27 from downtown. Elmira forced St. John Fisher into 18 turnovers in the contest and tallied 19 points off those miscues. Nurse finished with 23 points, four steals, and three blocks for EC, while Adams added 22 points and three steals. Kokoskie added 12 points and a team-high eight assists for the Purple & Gold.

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles return to the court on Friday for an Empire 8 matchup at home against The Sage Colleges beginning at 7:30 p.m.