ELMIRA COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES
Games 20 & 21: Utica College & Hartwick College
THIS WEEKEND’S OPPONENTS Utica College PIONEERS (5-13, 2-8 Empire 8)
Friday, February 5th, 2016 Speidel Gymnasium -- Elmira, NY -- 6:00 p.m.
Last Time Out
The Soaring Eagles survived a late scare at Stevens Institute of Technology to defeat the Ducks 75-50 on Saturday, January 30th. The victory was EC’s second inside the E8 this season and second against Stevens since it joined the conference. Already up 41-34 at the break, Elmira opened the second half with three treys, two from Justin Porrett ’19 and one from Justin Henderson ’16, to quickly extend the advantage to 50-35. EC led by as many as 18 in the second half before the Ducks started their near comeback. Stevens used a 21-4 run to trim the deficit to 62-61 with 3:55 to play in regulation. Hayden Harkins ’18 and Gino Leonardi ’16 helped preserve the lead with a pair of three-point plays, the latter an andone from Leonardi to give EC some breathing room at 69-63 with 1:01 left on the clock. Elmira would make its free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
Career Day For Mullane
Senior John Mullane ’16 was a big reason the Soaring Eagles were able to down the Ducks on Saturday. The 6-foot-5 forward scored a career-high 17 points against Stevens, which was tied for the team high. He finished an outstanding 8-for-12 from the floor, with his eight made buckets also a career best. In addition, Mullane hauled in four rebounds, blocked one shot and had one assist, while his only free throw allowed him to complete an and-one play in the first half.
Hartwick College HAWKS (13-6, 8-2 Empire 8)
Series History vs. Utica Saturday, February 6th, 2016 Murray Athletic Center -- Pine Valley, NY -- 2:00 p.m.
Utica is 34-25 all-time against EC, but the Soaring Eagles have won three of the last five contests against their E8 foe. A win on Friday would allow the Purple and Gold to earn a series split with Utica for the second consecutive season.
2015-16 SCHEDULE (4-15, 2-8 EMPIRE 8)
Scouting Utica
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 26 27
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* Empire 8 Semifinals Empire 8 Final
Bold Indicates Home Contest *Denotes Empire 8 Contest ^Elmira College Tip-Off Classic %Carnegie Mellon Invitational &Salem State Holiday Classic
ElmiraCollegeAthletics @ECSoaringEagles ECSportsInfo
Time-Result Utica visits Speidel Gymnasium riding a season-long four-game losing streak. The L, 72-81 Pioneers have a 5-13 overall record and a 2-8 mark inside Empire 8 play. Away L, 71-83 from the Clark Athletic Center, they are a mere 1-5. Last time out, the Pioneers L, 73-80 were defeated by St. John Fisher College 94-68 on February 1st. Utica leads only L, 53-72 W, 93-88 (OT) Elmira when it comes to scoring in the E8, averaging 69.3 points per game. The L, 74-81 Pioneers have struggled on defense as well, giving up 81.2 points per game for L, 66-80 a league-low 11.9 scoring margin. EC should also be able to take advantage of L, 56-91 Utica’s three-point field-goal defense, as the Pioneers are allowing opponents to W, 62-59 L, 94-95 (OT) shoot 37.4-percent from beyond the arc. Robert Tutein is Utica’s scoring leader L, 58-71 and himself a dangerous three-point shooter. Tutein is scoring 18.4 points per L, 47-85 game, fourth-best in the E8, while shooting 40.3-percent (54-for-134) from deep. L, 73-77 L, 66-76 Series History vs. Hartwick L, 70-81 Although EC is 26-43 all-time against Hartwick, the Soaring Eagles are 4-3 against L, 64-74 W, 76-72 the Hawks over the last seven games. Elmira swept the two-game series from L, 64-80 Hartwick last season by scores of 85-73 and 80-65. This season, the Hawks are W, 75-70 threatening to sweep EC for the first time since the 2011-12. 6:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m. Scouting Hartwick 6:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. The high-scoring Hawks enter the weekend second in the Empire 8 with an 8-2 2:00 p.m. conference record. Hartwick ranks third in the E8 with 85.4 points per game and 2:00 p.m. second in field-goal percentage. The high-octane attack is buoyed by a dangerous TBA three-point game. The Hawks are fifth in the nation in treys per game at 11.1 and TBA sixth in total threes made at 211. Individually, senior Trevor Norton ranks 13th in Division III in made threes per game at 3.41. Norton, an Empire 8 All-Conference First Teamer last season, is second in the conference in scoring (20.6 points per game) and made three-pointers (58). Teammates Justin Pratt and Joey Lufkin also have the ability to shoot the three-ball, ranking sixth and 14th, respectively, in treys per game in the E8. With lethal shooters on the outside, big man Matt Wilson cannot be forgotten. The 6-foot-9 center is nearly averaging a double-double with 12.1 points and 9.6 rebounds. Hartwick will travel to Alfred University to take ECSoaringEagles on the Saxons on Friday, February 5th, before visiting Elmira.
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