ELMIRA, N.Y. - The Elmira College men's basketball team hosted Russell Sage College inside Speidel Gymnasium Saturday afternoon for their second Empire 8 conference matchup of the weekend. A late run in the second half was ultimately not enough as the Soaring Eagles fell short, 95-79. 

PLAY-BY-PLAY
After some back-and-forth action to start the game, the Soaring Eagles found themselves leading 12-11 behind an Amin Ba-Ahmad layup. The Gators retaliated with a 13-2 run of their own to take control of the first half. Sage continued to dominant on offense through the first half and carried that momentum into the half as they led, 45-28. 

In the second half of play, the Soaring Eagles looked to cut the deficit early behind layups from Tyler Cardello and Emman Karkari-Mensah. The Gators quickly responded by going on a 9-0 run to continue building a gap. Midway through the second half, a layup from Kelton Brown and AJ Graham followed by Owen Evans draining a three-pointer cut the deficit to 20. EC continued to chip at the gap with another shot from downtown and a layup from Brown. Three consecutive free throws from Brown brought Elmira within 12, paired with Karkari-Mensah's fastbreak layup cut the Gators lead to eight. Back-and-forth action saw the Soaring Eagles come within six off a tip-in from JJ Babcock, but a pesky offensive run from the Gators ultimately saw EC dropping the contest 95-79.

LEADERS
Cardello led the Soaring Eagles with 18 points, five rebounds, and one steal. Brown followed suit with 16 points and eight rebounds while Graham tallied 12 points with two steals. Karkari-Mensah helped lead the defensive end with seven rebounds.

UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles remain inside Speidel Gymnasium with another E8 matchup against SUNY Geneseo on Tuesday, January 13. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM.