Score: Elmira College 97, Stevens Institute of Technology 92
Records: Elmira (4-20, 2-13 E8), Stevens (18-6, 12-3 E8)
Location: Elmira, N.Y. -- Speidel Gymnasium

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Playing the role of spoiler on Friday night against Stevens Institute of Technology, the Elmira College men's basketball team upset the Empire 8 Conference-leading Ducks by a 97-92 score at Speidel Gymnasium. Although it marked only the second conference win of the season for the Soaring Eagles, the loss cost the Ducks the right to host the upcoming E8 Championship Tournament.

The stunning victory snapped a 10-game skid for the Soaring Eagles, who recorded their highest-scoring game since dropping 111 in an upset over St. Lawrence University, 111-100, back on December 16. While Stevens held an advantage in field goal percentage, the Purple and Gold made up for it by launching 35 of their 72 attempts from beyond the arc. Overall, Elmira went 15-of-35 from 3-point range and was just one trey shy of tying its single-game season-high.

Without the services of the team's leading scorer, junior forward Henry Cuffee '19, the sharp-shooting duo of Hayden Harkins '18 and Jesse Adelson '20 led the deep aerial assault. Both finished with five 3-pointers, which vaulted Harkins into fourth-place in single-season program history with 74 treys on the year and helped Adelson amass a career-high 26 points. Mason Weir '21 also flashed his range from deep, too, and buried a trio of 3-pointers en route to a 15-point performance.

First-year forward Shawn Backus '21 also stepped up immensely to fill the void in the post. The reigning Empire 8 Rookie of the Week produced his first career double-double with season-highs in both points (21) and rebounds (12). Backus ended his night by making all four attempts from the foul line after Stevens came within one point, 93-92, on a Thomas Cook layup with just nine seconds left on the clock.

Elmira led by two points at the break, 40-38, but back-to-back treys off the hands of Ryan Coffey allowed Stevens to break a 43-all stalemate within the first three minutes of the second half. That advantage lasted until Harkins evened the score at 68-68 with nine-and-a-half minutes to play in regulation. Alas, the Ducks pulled ahead by as many as five points, 79-74, over the next two-plus minutes. Another Harkins 3-point field goal and a four-point play from Adelson at the 6:24 mark allowed the Soaring Eagles to grab their first lead since halftime, 81-79.

The two sides went back and forth until EC took the lead for good on an Adelson 3-pointer inside the final minute. The second-year guard from Closter, New Jersey, then came up with a clutch steal-and-score to make it a two-possession game at 92-88. While the Ducks came within a point at 93-92, they were forced to foul to preserve precious seconds, and Backus made both free throws with eight ticks remaining on the clock. Jayson Winick was unable to connect on a last-second desperation trey, allowing the lively crowd of EC faithful to exhale a sigh of relief before celebrating the win.

In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Randie Torgalski on finishing Friday night's nail-biter, although the Soaring Eagles had let similar games slip away earlier in the season…
"We haven't shown composure all season like we did tonight. We never got too down or too flustered. We also paid close attention to detail. We haven't been able to sustain the attention to detail for the amount of time we needed, and we did that tonight."

Coach Torgalski when asked about the large amount of 3-point shots attempted against the Ducks…
"We really didn't change how we played offense. We attacked like we normally do, I just think we had shooters who shot it with confidence tonight. Makes are contagious, so are misses. Tonight, we made shots."

Coach Torgalski on the career performances of freshman Shawn Backus and Jesse Adelson…
"We've preached strength in numbers all season. We need balanced scoring, and we need multiple threats. Both of these young guys have shown glimpses of what they are capable of, but what we haven't found is consistency. Both guys stayed within themselves and played to their strengths."

News and Notes

• Elmira halted a 10-game skid and secured its fourth win of the season on Friday night.
• The victory is just the third for the Soaring Eagles in the all-time series against the Ducks.
• Stevens cannot finish any better than 13-3 in-conference and would lose the tiebreaker to Nazareth (18-7, 13-3 E8) for the right to host the E8 Tournament if both teams finished with 13 wins.
• EC's 35 3-point attempts are tied for the team's second-highest single-game total of the 2017-18 campaign, while the 15 makes from beyond the arc are one shy of its season-best.
• Harkins moved into second-place all-time in program history with 252 career 3-pointers. He needs seven more in the final game of his collegiate career tomorrow night to tie Josh Keys '14 for first place (259).
• Harkins' career-high 74 3-pointers this season rank fourth on EC's single-season leaderboard.
• Adelson established a new career-high with 26 points while tying his season-high with five treys.
• Freshmen Backus and Weir both notched season-highs with 21 and 15 points, respectively.
• Backus logged his first career double-double by adding a season-best 12 boards.
• Justin Porrett '19 finished a mere two points shy of his second triple-double of the season, as he compiled eight points with 10 rebounds and 16 assists.
• Porrett's 16 assists are just three shy of his program record of 19, which he posted in the win over St. Lawrence in December.
• Porrett's 16 dimes are tied for the fourth-most dished out by any Division III player in a single game this season.
• With 194 assists on the year, Porrett broke Elmira's all-time single-season record, held previously by Reggie Rollins '88 with 182.
• Porrett moved into second-place all-time for career assists with 399, surpassing Trenton Tate '85 (397).

Up Next
Elmira will conclude the 2017-18 season at home on Saturday, February 17, when the Soaring Eagles host the Highlanders of Houghton College at 3:00 p.m.