Alfred, NY -- The Elmira College men's basketball team (4-7, 1-3 E8) held the second-ranked scoring offense in the nation to 21 points below its season average, but it was not enough as the Soaring Eagles suffered an 80-64 defeat at Alfred University (10-2, 3-0 E8). EC lost the turnover battle today as EC gave away the ball 21 times, the most turnovers surrendered in a game since December 29, 2011 when Elmira registered 25 turnovers in a loss to Trinity College.

The Purple and Gold fell behind early, trailing 15-2 with 12:09 to play in the first half, but the men would pick up their offensive intensity to cut the lead to seven points just about six minutes later. EC, however, would go cold from the field as the Saxons brought the lead back to double-digits and stretching it to 17, their largest lead of the game, with 2:27 left on the clock. The Soaring Eagles would chip into the deficit a bit before the half, going into the locker rooms trailing 39-25.

EC opened up the second half on an 18-7 run as the men closed the gap to just three points, but that would be as close as the Soaring Eagles would get as their deficit grew to double-digits again as the clock ticked under seven minutes remaining. Elmira would attempt yet another comeback, but the men were unsuccessful, going on to lose 80-64.

Neil Randolph'15 led the way, scoring a game-high 19 points, 16 of which came in the second half. The Soaring Eagles also received an impressive performance off the bench from Jake Metcalf '15 who added 15 points and nine rebounds while not missing a shot from the field, going a perfect seven for seven.

The Purple and Gold will get a few days to recuperate from this weekend's games before closing their three-game road trip on Tuesday, January 14th at Houghton College in a 6:00 p.m. contest.