Pittsford, N.Y. – The Elmira College Soaring Eagles men's basketball team traveled to Pittsford, NY for an Empire 8 conference matchup with the Cardinals of St. John Fisher University on Saturday afternoon. Four Soaring Eagles scored double digit points, but it was not enough as the Cardinals finished on top, 87-84.
 
Play-By-Play
The Cardinals opened the game by going on an 8-2 run. Tyler Cardello scored five points within a minute to cut the deficit for the Soaring Eagles. Another 7-2 run for the Cardinals would take the recapture the momentum and grow the deficit. The Soaring Eagles responded with a 13-1 run to tie up the score, seeing three-pointers from Alec Mercer, AJ Graham and JJ Babcock. A layup by Cardello and another three-point shot from Mercer put the Soaring Eagles up by four points for their largest lead of the first half (35-31). Cardello and Kelton Brown added layups to regain the advantage after the Cardinals tied up the game. The Soaring Eagles led 41-39 going into the half.

Brown opened the scoring in the second half for EC with a layup. The Cardinals went on an 8-2 run to pull ahead in the early minutes of the second half. A three-pointer and layup by Cardello paired with a layup from Brown capped off a 9-1 run by the Soaring Eagles to see them recapture the lead. The Cardinals once again responded with an 8-0 run but a layup from Graham tied the game at 56 apiece. A 13-3 run from the Cardinals saw them steal the lead back with nine minutes remaining in the contest. Elmira went on a 9-2 run, concluded with a pair of three-pointers from Wilkins to cut the deficit to four with three minutes remaining. Free throws were traded back and forth throughout the remaining minutes with the Cardinals holding the advantage at the final buzzer, 87-84.

LEADERS
The Soaring Eagles were led by Cardello with 24 points. Kelton Brown recorded a double-double with 13 points and led the team with 11 rebounds. Mercer added 18 points for Elmira, including five three-pointers while Wilkins scored ten points.
 
UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles will travel to SUNY Polytechnic Institute for a conference matchup with the Wildcats on Friday, January 23^rd. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM.