ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's basketball program outscored the Bryant & Stratton College (Rochester) Bobcats 55-47 in the second half en route to a 105-98 victory inside Speidel Gymnasium on Wednesday night in a non-conference matchup.
Riley Spencer '26 and
Emmanuel Karkari-Mensah '28 paced the Soaring Eagles offensively with a combined 42 points on the night, while
JJ Babcock '26 posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 105, Bryant & Stratton College (Rochester) 98
LOCATION: Elmira, New York | Speidel Gymnasium
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (1-1), Bryant & Stratton College (1-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Soaring Eagles would trail by as many as eight points early in the first half as the Bobcats gained their largest lead (17-9) just over five minutes into the contest. Elmira rallied to trim the deficit following a 3-pointer from Spencer to make it 19-15 with 14:47 to play in the half.
- Elmira gained its first lead of the half with 11:59 left to play as Babcock drained a 3-pointer to give the Soaring Eagles a 25-23 advantage. The Purple & Gold would lead by as many as seven points down the stretch until the Bobcats used an 8-0 run over the final 2:54 to take a 51-50 lead into the break.
- The second half would remain a one-possession contest until Elmira opened a 65-59 lead with 15:06 remaining in the half following a 3-point play from Kelton Brown '28. The Soaring Eagles would take a seven-point lead with just over 10 minutes remaining as Davian King '28 finished a layup to make it 73-66.
- Bryant & Stratton would cut the deficit to four points in the final minute of the contest before sending Elmira to the free-throw line as the Soaring Eagles would go 3-of-4 from the charity stripe with Tyler Cardello '26 tallying the final points to secure the 105-98 victory.
- Cardello finished the contest with 18 points, while Babcock notched his first double-double of the season to go along with four assists. Carter Seeberger '26 and Jack O'Grady '26 also added four assists on the night.
UP NEXT: The Soaring Eagles head to Oneonta this weekend for the Michael A. Freilich Classic as Elmira faces the Red Dragons at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.
