ALBANY, N.Y. – The Elmira College Men's Basketball team would put together a strong second half on Friday evening, erasing a 11-point first half deficit before forcing overtime in its eventual 73-69 victory over Russell Sage. Elmira, who struggled and would find itself down double-digits in the early going, were able to put together a strong second half and overtime effort in its eventual victory. 

The Soaring Eagles were paced offensively by JJ Babcock '26, who posted a 20-point, 14-rebound effort for his third straight double-double, while Tyler Cardello chipped in 17 points for his 14th straight double-digit contest. 

JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 73, Russell Sage 69
LOCATION: Albany, New York | Kahl Campus Center
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (6-8, 2-3 Empire 8), Russell Sage (6-7, 0-5 Empire 8)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Soaring Eagles and Gators would play to a 6-6 draw through the first five minutes of play before Russell Sage used an 13-2 run over the next six minutes of play to take an 11-point lead. From there, the Purple & Gold would go on a 6-0 run of its own, capped by a three-pointer from Dylan Jacob '24, trimming its deficit to just five. 
• From there, the Gators would get some offense going to extend its lead to 11 once again, but an important final 1:34 of the half would see Elmira trim its deficit down to five points, following a final second three-pointer from Marc Anthony Artuz '24 as the Gators led 34-29. 
• After Sage took a lead of seven points to open the second half, the Soaring Eagles would use the next ten minutes of play to erase the Gator lead, taking its first lead of the frame following a bucket from Carter Seeberger '26 with 9:48 remaining. In the half, the Elmira lead would grow to five points, but a critical and-one opportunity from Gator Jackson Brown in the final seconds would eventually send the game to overtime following a good look at the buzzer from Tyler Cardello '26.
• In overtime, the teams would go back-and-forth, with Elmira once again taking a lead of five points before a three-pointer in the last minute from Noah Girard trimmed the Purple & Gold's lead to just two. Following an Elmira turnover, the Gators would have a chance to tie the game or take the lead, but would miss its shot with 11.2 seconds remaining prior to a timeout from Elmira head coach Casey McGraw. 
• In the final nine seconds, Cardello would knock down a pair of free throws to eventually seal the victory, as Elmira went on to take the contest 73-69. 
• For the game, the Soaring Eagles would shoot 26-of-68 (38.2%), while the Gators shot 26-of-74 (35.1%). Elmira would also control the bench points battle 20-12, getting six points from Owen Evans '26, five from Artuz, and five from Aaron Lane '25. 

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles return to the floor on Saturday afternoon when heading to Oneonta, New York to take on Hartwick College. Tip-off is set for 4:00 PM.