ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's basketball team picked up its first senior day win since the 2018-19 season with a 77-73 defeat over the visiting Hawks from Houghton College. After trailing by six points with just over four minutes remaining, the Soaring Eagles closed the game on a 16-6 run down the stretch to secure a win for the senior class of Rashaad Nurse '22, Kyle Kokoskie '22, and Quintel Clements '22.
Bryan Adams finished the game with 23 points, 6 assists, and four rebounds while the senior trio combined for 33 points with Nurse paving the way with 18. For Adams, he wraps up his freshman campaign averaging 17.5 points, placing him 10th all-time in a single-season for points average.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 77, Sage 73
LOCATION: Elmira, New York | Speidel Gymnasium
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (6-19, 4-12 E8), Sage (2-20, 2-12 E8)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Both teams came out the gate on fire from beyond the arc, as the teams combined for 14 first half three-pointers with Hartwick leading the way with eight. After Hartwick scored the opening bucket, the Soaring Eagles used a 7-0 run over the next four minutes of play before Hartwick eventually tied the contest at 19-19 at the midway point in the frame. From there, Elmira would convert on its next three buckets, including a pair of three-pointers from David Kruis '23, who made three of his four shots from deep in the opening half.
Trailing by five, the Hawks used a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to take its own lead of five before the teams traded buckets down the stretch. It was Elmira who would score the last bucket in the opening half, as Adams scored on a fastbreak layup after a turnover from the Hawks' Nick Eiler.
Elmira entered the half down just three, as the Soaring Eagles shot 41.9% from the floor on 13-of-31 shooting, including a 6-of-13 effort from deep. For the Hawks, they converted on 14-of-30 from the floor for a percentage of 46.7, while making 8-of-20 shots from beyond the three-point line.
Out of the break, the Hawks extended its lead to six on a made three-ball from Anthony Girard. From there, the Soaring Eagles would eventually tie the game on the front end of a pair of free throws from Clements after Nurse and Adams each scored buckets. Girard, who led the Hawks with 21 points, put Hartwick up by seven after knocking down a three-pointer with 11:32 remaining in the contest.
From there, Hartwick gained its largest lead of the half (8) at the 8:03 mark on a made bucket. Elmira would then use a 7-0 run over the next two minutes of play after a key and one bucket from Dylan Jacob '24 while the crowd helped swing momentum to the Elmira side. After the Hawks increased its lead to six once again with 4:33 remaining, the Soaring Eagles retook the lead just two minutes later as part of a 7-0 run. Elmira never trailed the remainder of the way as the contest concluded with a 77-73 victory.
The Soaring Eagles used a 27-5 advantage in points from turnovers, including a 30-4 advantage in fast break points. In all, EC forced 15 Hartwick turnovers compared to just nine of its own.
