ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Elmira College Men's Basketball team surrendered its first half lead on Wednesday evening, as the Hawks from Hartwick College used a 46-37 advantage in the second frame to pick up its first win of the season, 68-65.
Rashaad Nurse '22 notched a career night for the Soaring Eagles, posting 23 points and 18 rebounds in the loss.
JUST THE BASICS:
Location: Oneonta, New York | Lambos Arena
Score: Elmira: 65, Hartwick: 68
Records: Elmira: (5-17, 3-10 Empire 8), Hartwick (1-17, 1-9 Empire 8)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Soaring Eagles scored the first two buckets of the game on shots from Kyle Kokoskie '22 and Bryan Adams '25. From there, the Soaring Eagles never trailed in the half, and extended its lead to as many as ten points with just 6:39 remaining.
Elmira carried a six-point lead into halftime after holding the Hawks to just 28.1% from the floor in the opening half which included just nine made field goals. The Soaring Eagles, who shot 40.0% for the frame, received a ten-point, nine-rebound half from Nurse, who finished the game as the leader in both categories.
In the second half, the Hawks quickly used a 16-5 run over the first five minutes of play to take its first lead of the game at the 15:02 mark. From there, Elmira would play from behind until the 4:24 mark when Nurse converted on a jumper to put EC ahead by one. After Nurse was able to knock down another to give the Purple & Gold a three-point lead with 3:55 remaining, an 8-0 run from Hartwick over the next minute of play gave the home team a five-point advantage.
Trailing by five with seven seconds remaining, Nurse was able to clean up a rebound before converting on a layup to bring the score within three. Out of the ensuing timeout, Elmira was able to force a turnover and have one last look from deep, which came up short at the buzzer.
UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles will take the weekend off before returning to the floor on Tuesday as they head to Pittsford for a matchup with St. John Fisher. Tip inside Manning & Napier Gymnasium is set for 7:30 PM. From there, Elmira will wrap up its regular season with a pair of home matchups against Sage & Hartwick inside Speidel Gymnasium on Friday & Saturday.
