UTICA, N.Y. - The Elmira College men's basketball team traveled to Utica Friday night for an Empire 8 matchup against the Wildcats of the SUNY Polytechnic Institute. A strong second half rally was not enough to overcome their early deficit, as the Soaring Eagles dropped the contest, 73-63.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Tyler Cardello opened the game's scoring with a nice finish in the post early on. He followed it up with a driving layup on the next possession, but a quick run by the Wildcats helped SUNY Poly jump out to a 15–6 lead five minutes in. AJ Graham provided a spark off the bench for the Soaring Eagles with five points, but the Wildcats' efficient shooting helped them build a 20-point lead just over halfway through the first half. Cardello later helped narrow EC's deficit to 13, but back-to-back triples by SUNY Poly pushed the lead back to 19. A strong finish at the rim by Kelton Brown marked the final field goal of the half, as the Soaring Eagles went into the break trailing 43–27.

Brown opened the second half with a layup off a backdoor cut and followed it up with a deep three as EC looked to chip away at the deficit. After several back-and-forth possessions, the Soaring Eagles trailed by 15 five minutes into the half. The Wildcats regained their 20-point advantage, but a 16–4 Elmira run—highlighted by an Alec Mercer three and strong free-throw shooting from Amin Ba-Ahmad—cut the deficit to just eight with four minutes remaining. The Soaring Eagles were unable to complete the comeback down the stretch, as SUNY Poly held on for a 73–63 win.

LEADERS
Tyler Cardello led the way for EC with 19 points. Kelton Brown and Alec Mercer each contributed 11 points.

UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles will stay in Utica tomorrow to face Utica University tomorrow at 4:00 PM. Tuesday, January 27th they will travel to Keuka College to face the Wolves before returning to Speidel Gymnasium for Athletics Alumni Weekend to face Alfred University on Friday, January 30th at 7:30 PM.