ONEONTA, NY – Visiting Elmira took a lead with just over 11 minutes left to go in the first half and never relinquished it as the Soaring Eagles handed the Hartwick men's basketball team an 85-73 loss in Empire 8 action Friday night at Lambros Arena. The loss drops the Hawks to 8-6 overall and 3-2 in the Empire 8 Conference. The Soaring Eagles improve to 6-7 overall and vault the Hawks in the league standings with a 4-2 mark.
            Hartwick's Jake Sinicki (Endicott, NY/Maine-Endwell) led four Hawks in double figures with 16 points. He also added nine rebounds. Matt Wilson (Shelton, CT/Franklin & Marshall College) registered a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Joey Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) notched 14 points and Matt Petruccione (Saratoga Springs, NY/Bishop Maginn) added 10.
            Elmira was led by David Borelli's game-high 18 points. Gino Leonardi and Oladapo Badmos each scored 14 points and Neil Randolph chipped in with 12.
            Hartwick jumped out to a five-point lead, 10-5, on a Sinicki three-pointer just over three minutes into the contest. Borelli would put EC in front, 15-13, on a jumper but Justin Pratt's (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown) three made it 16-15 Hawks.
            EC quickly retook the advantage but a pair of Petruccione free throws made it 18-17 Hartwick with 11:48 left in the half. Unfortunately for the Hawks, it would be their final lead of the night. Two straight Elmira three-pointers gave the visitors an eight-point edge, 32-24, before 'Wick cut it to four, 36-32, with just over two minutes left. Buckets from Borelli and a layup from Justin Henderson at the halftime horn put the Soaring Eagles up at the break, 42-33.
            In the second half, the Hawks brought the deficit to four three times in the first four minutes but EC would open up a nine-point lead, 53-44 on a Hayden Harkins three. Another trey from Leonardi made it a double-digit lead for EC with 8:10 to go.
            Another three-point basket gave Elmira a 72-61 advantage with just over two minutes to play but two Lufkin free throws and a Glenn Gavan (Newton, NJ/Pope John XXIII) three for Hartwick cut the margin to six, 72-66, with 1:31 remaining. An old-fashioned three-point play from Leonardi triggered a 13-7 run to close the game for the Soaring Eagles. EC hit all nine of its free-throw attempts in the final 1:22 to secure the victory.
            The Soaring Eagles would make 55.2% (32-for-58) of their shots in the contest with the Hawks making 41.7% (25-for-60). Both teams connected on nine three's. The Hawks out-rebounded EC 33-32 in the game with the Soaring Eagles' bench outscoring the Hawks' by a 49-19 margin.
            Hartwick looks to get back on track tomorrow as it hosts Ithaca at 4 p.m.