ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College Soaring Eagles men's basketball team honored their seniors as they hosted the Golden Flyers of Nazareth University for an Empire 8 conference matchup inside Speidel Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. Elmira had a strong first half but fell short in the end against Nazareth, 90-79.
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Golden Flyers started out the game with three consecutive three-pointers to take an early 9-0 advantage. The Soaring Eagles answered with five consecutive points by JJ Babcock, including a three-pointer from the top of the arc. Babcock hit another three-pointer a few minutes later, scoring the first eight points of the game for EC. Tyler Cardello followed with five consecutive points of his own, part of a 14-0 run for the Soaring Eagles. Alec Mercer caught fire for Elmira, making three-pointers on four straight possessions, to give EC a 28-19 advantage halfway through the first half. Owen Evans hit a jump shot with five minutes remaining in the first half to put the Soaring Eagles up 33-25. Evans added a three-pointer a few minutes later as the strong offense continued in the first half. The Golden Flyers went on a 6-0 scoring run, but that momentum was slowed by a Daemon Thomas three-pointer. Mercer hit his fifth three of the first half with ten seconds remaining to put EC up 45-38. Elmira hit 11 threes in the first half, shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc.

Nazareth opened the scoring in the second half with a layup. Cardello made a layup off a pass from Babcock for the Soaring Eagles first points of the half. The Golden Flyers went on a 15-0 scoring run to take the advantage 60-49. Elmira got three-pointers from Jude Wilkins and Evans as part of an 8-0 to cut the deficit to three points. Nazareth responded with a 19-1 run over the next four minutes to go up 79-58. Emmanuel Karkari-Mensah and Cardello scored the next nine points for the Soaring Eagles as part of a 9-3 run. Cardello and Wilkins made seven consecutive free throws to cut the deficit to ten points with two minutes left. A three pointer from Wilkins and a layup from Karkari-Mensah brought the Nazareth advantage down to seven with a minute left. The Golden Flyers made their free throws and ran out the rest of the time, as the Soaring Eagles fell in this matchup, 90-79.
 
LEADERS
Offensively, Cardello led with 19 points while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out four assists. Mercer scored 15 points including five three-pointers. Babcock notched 14 points, tallied eight rebounds, and recorded five blocks.
 
UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles are back inside Speidel Gymnasium for a conference matchup with the Wolves of Keuka College on Tuesday, February 17^th. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM.