HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The Elmira College Men's Basketball team would get off to a strong start over the first ten minutes of the contest on Tuesday evening, but a strong final 30 minutes for the Highlanders would send the home team away with a 108-82 victory inside the Nielsen Center.
The Soaring Eagles were paced offensively by Tyler Cardello '26, Owen Evans '26, Riley Spencer '26, and JJ Babcock '26, who all scored in double-figures for the Soaring Eagles, led by Cardello with 17 points.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 82, Houghton 108
LOCATION: Houghton, New York | Nielsen Center
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (7-12, 3-7 Empire 8), Houghton (6-14, 4-7 Empire 8)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Soaring Eagles would get out to a quick start, as Tyler Cardello '26 would score the first seven points for Elmira before a Riley Spencer '26 three pointer extended the EC lead to 10-4, forcing the Highlanders into a timeout at the 17:03 mark.
- Over the next four minutes, Elmira would extend its lead to double-figures after another basket from beyond the arc from Spencer. Following a basket from the Highlanders, Owen Evans '26 joined the shooting with a three of his own, which would begin a 4-of-6 evening from deep, forcing Houghton into its second timeout with EC ahead 19-8.
- The offense for both teams would see a slight uptick, as each team was out and running and trading baskets. Following an Elmira timeout, the Highlanders would use a 10-0 run over the next four minutes of play to tie the game at 23-23.
- The Highlanders would continue to surge to conclude the opening half, as they took a 46-37 lead into the locker room. For the half, Elmira would shoot 37.5% from the floor compared to a 45.8% mark for Houghton. Cardello & Spencer would pace Elmira offensively, scoring 13 and 10 points, respectively.
- In the second half, the tide would continue to go in the favor of the Highlanders, who over the next 20 minutes would outscore Elmira 62-42, as they went on to take the contest 108-82.
- JaJuan Preaster would pace the Highlanders, scoring 36 points to go along with nine assists and eight rebounds.
UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles return to the floor on Friday when heading to Rochester to take on St. John Fisher University at 7:30 PM. Saturday, Elmira will conclude the weekend with a 4:00 PM matchup against the Golden Flyers from Nazareth on the road.