ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College Men's Basketball team came up just short against the Pioneers from Utica College on Saturday afternoon, falling 74-67 inside Speidel Gymnasium. After trailing by just one at the break, the Soaring Eagles faced six second half three pointers from the Pioneers, who finished the game shooting 47.4% from the floor.

Bryan Adams '25 paced Elmira with 15 points and five rebounds, while David Kruis '23 scored 12 points for his fifth double-digit performance of the season.

JUST THE BASICS:
Location: Elmira, New York | Speidel Gymnasium
Score: Elmira: 67, Utica: 74
Records: Elmira: (5-15, 3-8 Empire 8), Utica (16-3, 9-1 Empire 8) 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Elmira held the lead for the first eight minutes of play before Damien Call scored to put the Pioneers ahead 17-16 with 12:33 remaining in the frame. From there, the Soaring Eagles saw its deficit increase to as many as eight points in the half before cutting it to just one point over the final 6:35.

Harry Ravitz '24 sent the Soaring Eagles to the locker room down just a point after converting from long range at the 1:27 mark, concluding the scoring for the half.

In the frame, Elmira shot 50.0% from the field on 28 shots, while the Pioneers converted 14 shots for a percentage of 46.7%.

In the second, Elmira was able to retake the lead after Kyle Kokoskie '22 converted on an and-one opportunity just seconds into the frame. From there, the game belonged to the Pioneers, who retook the lead at the 16:38 mark and never trailed for the remainder of the contest.

Elmira was outscored by six in the second half, while dropping its shooting percentage by nearly 16.0% in the half.

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles host Alfred on Tuesday evening inside Speidel Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 7:30 PM.