ELMIRA COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES
Game 3: Hilbert College
TUESDAY’S OPPONENT
Last Time Out
The Soaring Eagles began the season with a pair of losses in the Elmira College Tip-Off Tournament over the weekend. EC rallied from a 21-point deficit to come within five of Morrisville State in the closing minute, but could not overcome the Mustangs in the 81-72 loss on Friday. The following afternoon, EC saw a 10-point second half lead against Mount Saint Mary College quickly evaporate in the final eight minutes, as the Knights went on a late 18-0 run en route to an 83-71 victory.
All-Time Series
The Soaring Eagles are 1-2 all-time against the Hawks, as the two programs have met each of the last three seasons. Elmira’s only win against Hilbert came in the 2013-14 season, when EC beat the Hawks 74-64 at home. Last season, Hilbert defeated the Soaring Eagles, 79-61, in Hamburg, NY. In the first-ever meeting between the two teams on December 15, 2012, the Hawks overcame a three-point halftime deficit to earn a 71-66 victory against EC.
Leonardi Leading the Way
As expected heading into the season, senior Gino Leonardi ’16 ranks among the team leaders in multiple statistical categories through the first two games. The Spencer, NY, native is averaging a team-high 14.0 points per game and is tied for the team lead in rebounds per game (4.0) and minutes played (27.5). Leonardi is also first in field goals made (11) and second in assist per game (3.0). Against Mount Saint Mary, the fourth-year guard netted a career-high 18 points to pace the Soaring Eagles.
Hilbert College HAWKS (4-0)
Tuesday, November 24th, 2015 Speidel Gymnasium -- Elmira, NY -- 7:00 p.m.
Porrett Producing In First Season
Forget first-year jitters, Elmira’s freshman guard, Justin Porrett ’19, is off to a solid start to his collegiate career. In the first game of his career against Morrisville State, Porrett filled the stat sheet with nine points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals in 23 minutes off the bench. He played another 20 minutes against the Knights the following afternoon, shooting 5-for-10 from the 2015-16 SCHEDULE (0-2, 0-0 EMPIRE 8) field with 12 points. He also dished out four dimes and grabbed a pair of rebounds. Day Date Opponent Time-Result Porrett’s team-leading 4.5 assists per game are seventh-most in the Empire 8. NOV. 20 Morrisville State^ L, 72-81 21 Mount Saint Mary^ L, 71-83 Off the Bench 24 Hilbert 7:00 p.m. With three of Elmira’s five starters unable to find a groove in the second half 28 Carnegie Mellon% 3:00 p.m. against Morrisville State, it was the bench players who nearly led the Soaring 29 Chatham/Trine% TBA Eagles back from a 21-point deficit. The bench scored 31 of EC’s 44 secondDEC. 4 St. Lawrence 7:00 p.m. half points and 41 of the 72 in the game. Anthony Abate ’19 led the Purple and 9 SUNY Cortland 7:30 p.m. Gold with eight second-half points, while Justin Porrett ’19 and Henry Cuffee 29 Wesleyan& 6:00 p.m. ’19 each scored seven. The effort against Morrisville State marks the most 30 Endicott& 5:00 p.m. points scored off the bench since February 14, 2015, when the substitutes JAN. 4 Stevens* 2:00 p.m. scored 42 in an 80-65 win over Hartwick College. Last season, Elmira had five 8 St. John Fisher* 6:00 p.m. games where the bench scored at least 41 points; EC went 3-2 in those games. 9 Nazareth* 5:00 p.m. 12 Ithaca* 6:00 p.m. From Downtown 15 Utica* 6:00 p.m. One of Elmira’s strengths this season is shooting the three-ball, and the Soaring 16 Hartwick* 2:00 p.m. Eagles put that on display in the EC Tip-Off Tournament. The Purple and Gold 19 Houghton* 6:00 p.m. are averaging 11 made three-pointers per game, this after knocking down 14 21 Alfred* 6:00 p.m. in the loss to Mount Saint Mary. Since the start of the 2001-02 season, there 27 Ithaca* 6:00 p.m. have only been four other occasions where EC made 14 or more treys in a 30 Stevens* 1:00 p.m. single game. The Soaring Eagles enter Tuesday’s game ranked second in the FEB. 5 Utica* 6:00 p.m. Empire 8 in threes per game and three-point field-goal percentage (41.5 percent). 6 Hartwick* 2:00 p.m. 9 Houghton* 6:00 p.m. Scouting Hilbert 12 St. John Fisher* 6:00 p.m. Hilbert College is off to a red-hot start to the 2015-16 campaign, and will 13 Nazareth* 6:00 p.m. bring a prolific offense to Speidel Gymnasium on Tuesday. The Hawks 20 Alfred* 2:00 p.m. are off to a 4-0 start for the second year in a row, and are averaging 95.5 26 Empire 8 Semifinals TBA points per game, ranking 19th in all of NCAA Division III in scoring of 27 Empire 8 Final TBA fense while owning the nation’s 13th-best field goal percentage (52.5). Hilbert has outscored its opponents by an average of 19.5 per game. Four Bold Indicates Home Contest different Hawks average double-digit points per game, led by Sean Weisansal *Denotes Empire 8 Contest with 20.3. Senior Jerame Owens is a fearsome presence in the post, rank^Elmira College Tip-Off Classic %Carnegie Mellon Invitational ing second on the team with 16.5 points per game. Owens, a 6’6” forward &Salem State Holiday Classic from Spencerport, NY, is a two-time First Team Allegheny Mountain Collegiate All-Conference honoree and was voted the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year. He was also named a DIII News Preseason All-American Honorable Mention after leading the Hawks with 16.4 points and 10.0 rebounds as a junior. ElmiraCollegeAthletics @ECSoaringEagles ECSportsInfo
ECSoaringEagles
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