ELMIRA COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES
Game 25: Elmira College at Alfred University
THIS WEEKEND’S OPPONENT
Last Time Out
Elmira suffered a double-digit defeat in its most recent contest, a 77-46 setback on the road against Nazareth College. The loss to Nazareth was the latest in a fivegame skid, as the Golden Flyers swept the regular season series. Elmira struggled to find its rhythm from the field, as the Purple and Gold connected at 29.5-percent clip for the game, including a 17.4-percent success rate from three-point range. Gino Leonardi ’16 paced the Purple and Gold with a 14-point performance, making him the only Soaring Eagle in last Saturday’s contest to finish in double figures.
Record Book Watch
Hayden Harkins ’18 knocked down two of Elmira’s four three-pointers against the Golden Flyers. His two makes from downtown give the second-year sharpshooter 71-made three’s on the season, good enough to place Harkins in a three-way tie for sixth place in EC history for single-season three-point buckets. Harkins needs just two more to move into a three-way tie for fourth place with former EC marksman, Josh Keys ’14.
Alfred University SAXONS (9-15, 5-10 Empire 8)
Henderson Inches Closer
Saturday, February 20th, 2016 Terry S. Galanis Family Arena -- Alfred, NY -- 2:00 p.m.
2015-16 SCHEDULE (4-20, 2-13 EMPIRE 8) Day NOV. DEC. JAN. FEB.
Date 20 21 24 28 29 4 9 29 30 4 8 9 12 15 16 19 21 27 30 5 6 9 12 13 20
Opponent Morrisville State^ Mount Saint Mary^ Hilbert Carnegie Mellon% Chatham% St. Lawrence SUNY Cortland Wesleyan& Endicott& Stevens* St. John Fisher* Nazareth* Ithaca* Utica* Hartwick* Houghton* Alfred* Ithaca* Stevens* Utica* Hartwick* Houghton* St. John Fisher* Nazareth* Alfred*
Bold Indicates Home Contest *Denotes Empire 8 Contest ^Elmira College Tip-Off Classic %Carnegie Mellon Invitational &Salem State Holiday Classic
ElmiraCollegeAthletics @ECSoaringEagles ECSportsInfo
With 125-made three-point attempts in his three-year career, Justin Henderson ’16 moves ever so close to cracking EC’s top-10 list for career three-point baskets. Henderson needs just three more makes from distance to move into a two-way tie with David Nelson ’10 for 10th place in the Elmira record books. Henderson is averaging 2.6 three-pointers per game this season, but that conversion rate has dropped to 1.8 in his last four games. Additionally, Henderson is connecting at a 32.2-percent clip from downtown in true road games this season, just a shade higher than his season average of 31.8-percent.
Season Low Turnovers
Time-Result In Elmira’s Friday night matchup with St. John Fisher College, the Soaring Eagles committed a season-low five turnovers. It marked the fourth time this season EC L, 72-81 has committed fewer than 10 in a game, although, Elmira is winless in those four L, 71-83 occurrences. Additionally, Elmira produced 17 assists against the Cardinals for a L, 73-80 season-high 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. L, 53-72 W, 93-88 (OT) All-Time Series The series between Elmira and Alfred is split almost right down the middle, as EC L, 74-81 holds a slim 32-30 edge over its E8 rival. The Saxons have held the upper hand L, 66-80 in recent seasons, taking seven of the 11 matchups over the last five seasons, L, 56-91 however, Elmira has the most recent victory in the series. Elmira will be looking W, 62-59 to snap a seven-year streak of away losses at Alfred; EC’s last win at Alfred dates L, 94-95 (OT) back to the 2007-08 season, when the Soaring Eagles powered past the Saxons, L, 58-71 60-53. L, 47-85 Last Matchup L, 73-77 It was a thriller the last time these two teams squared off. Elmira eked out a L, 66-76 four-point win, 76-72, at Speidel Gymnasium on January 21st, giving the Soaring L, 70-81 Eagles their first conference- and home-win of the 2015-16 campaign. Elmira led L, 64-74 by nine at halftime and by as much as 10 with just about three minutes remaining W, 76-72 in regulation. However, the Saxons would not go away quietly, as Alfred trimmed L, 64-80 the EC lead to just one on several occasions during the final three minutes. ThankW, 75-70 fully, Elmira’s clutch free-throw shooting guided the Purple and Gold to the win. L, 74-75 Three Elmira players finished with double figures, including rookie guard Justin Porrett ’19 who scored 21 points and pulled down seven boards. Gino Leonardi L, 65-83 ’16 and Justin Henderson ’16 chipped in with 18 and 17 points, respectively. L, 67-80 L, 68-75 Scouting the Saxons L, 46-77 Similar to the Soaring Eagles, Alfred University has been eliminated from Empire 8 2:00 p.m. Tournament postseason contention. The Saxons are 9-15 with a 5-10 mark in conference play. Alfred has dropped three straight games after falling to Houghton College 80-78 on Thursday evening. The Saxons are 2-7 with wins against Utica and Stevens over their last nine games. Although Alfred does not have a winning record, the Saxons are .500 at home this season, going 4-4 at Terry S. Galanis Family Arena. One area Alfred has excelled at this season is protecting the ball, as the Saxons rank first in the conference in turnover margin (4.50) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.33). The Saxons are paced on offense by 1,000-point scorer Tyler Seelman, who owns a team-leading 16.4 points and 2.8 assists per game. The majority of Seelman’s scoring has come from beyond the arc, as the junior marksman owns the E8’s fourth-most makes from downtown (65). DefenECSoaringEagles sively, keep an eye on Julian Reinhart, whose 1.5 steals per game average is tied for third in the conference.
Sports Information: Don Sherman (dsherman@elmira.edu); Dan DeCaria (ddecaria@elmira.edu); Travis Larner (tlarner@elmira.edu) Phone: 607.735.1131 Fax: 607.735.1768 Website: athletics.elmira.edu Address: One Park Place, Elmira, NY 14901