Fredonia, NY -- The Elmira College men's basketball team snapped their four-game losing streak with a 62-56 victory at Fredonia State.Neil Randolph'15 led the charge for the Soaring Eagles, tallying a season-high 26 points behind seven made three-pointers.
 
Randolph's 26 points increased his career total 997, leaving him just three points shy of joining the 1,000-point club. He also added six rebounds, two of which came on the offensive end, to his 26 points. Randolph was the only Elmira player in double-figures, but bothJustin Henderson'16 and Gino Leonardi'16 were next in the scoring column with nine points apiece.
 
All of Henderson's points came from behind the three-point line, while Leonardi was effective, shooting 5-of-6, from the charity stripe. Leonardi also tallied eight assists, compared to just one turnover in the contest. In total, EC assisted on 15 of 21 field goals, with Oladapo Badmos'17 adding four assists to Leonardi's eight.
 
The Soaring Eagles came out firing in the first half of tonight's game, getting their first 21 points from three-point baskets. During that run Randolph had four three-pointers while Connor Bays '18, Hayden Harkins '18, and Henderson each had one. Thanks to their hot shooting from downtown, the Purple and Gold held a 21-14 lead with over 10 minutes to play in the first half. EC's lead was extended to 26-16 after another Harkins made three-pointer and then to 31-20 after Randolph's fifth successful three of the night. Randolph capped-off a 17-point opening half with a layup with just nine seconds on the clock that gave the Soaring Eagles a 35-22 lead heading into the locker rooms.
 
The Blue Devils opened the second half on a 10-2 run, cutting Elmira's lead to five with 16:52 left in the second half. A Kyree Hull layup made it a 39-35 game nearly a minute later, but the Soaring Eagles once again got hot from distance, hitting back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to push their lead back to 13 points.
 
Elmira's lead hovered around 10 points for the next few minutes, but with the score at 50-41 with 9:46 on the clock, Fredonia began making a run to close the gap. The Blue Devils used a 7-0 run over the next four-plus minutes of the game to cut EC's lead to just two points. But on the very next possession, Henderson knocked-down his third three of the game to swing momentum back in Elmira's favor.
 
Henderson's three sparked a 7-0 Elmira run that gave the Purple and Gold a nine-point lead with 3:27 left in regulation. Fredonia made it a five-point game with 1:40 to go, but EC hit 5-of-8 from the free throw line in that time to put away the Blue Devils, 62-56.
 
The Soaring Eagles will look to use this victory to jumpstart the final few weeks of their Empire 8 Conference schedule, which resumes on Friday, February 6th against St. John Fisher College. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in Rochester, NY.