Score: Elmira College 88, Keuka College 81
Records: Elmira (2-5), Keuka (3-2)
Location: Speidel Gymnasium - Elmira, N.Y.

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- A career-high 30 points from Justin Porrett '19 and a red-hot shooting performance in the second half helped the Elmira College men's basketball team secure an 88-81 come-from-behind victory over Keuka College in front of a raucous crowd at Speidel Gymnasium on Wednesday.

Porrett, who never stepped off of the floor for the entire 40 minutes of action, logged an extraordinary double-double with a game-best 30 points and 13 assists. While several of his passes resulted in critical buckets by teammates, the Dumont, New Jersey, native did not miss from 3-point range in the second half, going 5-for-5 in the period. In the second half alone, Porrett recorded 17 points with seven dimes, two steals, and one block to spark the comeback.

The senior guard was one of five Soaring Eagles to score in double figures, including Shawn Backus '21 with 12 points, Kyle McCreery '20 and Jesse Adelson '20 with 11, and Henry Cuffee '19 with 10. As a team, the Purple and Gold were 20-of-34 from the field in the second half, a blistering 58.8 field-goal percentage. Equally as impressive was Elmira's ability to find its stroke from beyond the arc; after making just 25.0 percent (6-of-24) of their 3-pointers in the opening half, the Soaring Eagles were 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) from deep in the final 20 minutes.

The Wolves of Keuka entered the halftime break with a 40-31 advantage. A 9-1 run to start the second half, one that began with an and-one by Keuka's James Barnes, allowed the Wolves to stretch the lead to 15 points, 45-34. 

From there, senior Anthony Abate '19, who entered off of the bench to start the half, provided a crucial spark. In addition to his high-energy defense on Keuka's David Oliveras, Abate netted five unanswered points with an unconventional three-point play and a quick put-back basket. The second-chance score trimmed the deficit down to 49-39, and just over four minutes into the stanza, Cuffee slashed the Keuka lead down to seven points with a trey.

Although the Wolves managed to push their lead back to 11 points, 53-42, with 14:30 to play, EC went on a 13-2 run to draw the game even at 55-all. With the exception of one Cuffee foul shot, every point on the game-tying rally was either scored or assisted by Porrett. The ensuing four-and-a-half minutes saw both sides trade blow-for-blow. A McCreery 3-pointer put Elmira ahead 61-59, but Keuka's Matthew Ciezki countered with a go-ahead trey on the next possession. A Porrett steal-and-score allowed the Soaring Eagles to regain a one-point lead, 63-62, before the Wolves tallied four points in a row to claw ahead 66-63.

At the six-minute mark, Elmira tied the game for the last time at 66-all on a Backus 3-pointer. The next possession was the one during which EC took the lead for good, as Adelson kickstarted a 15-2 run with the first of back-to-back treys for the Closter, New Jersey, native. Porrett buried another distance shot with four-and-a-half minutes remaining, and Backus bookended the decisive spurt with a jumper that gave a 77-68 cushion.

Clinging to a five-point lead, Every and Porrett iced the game with seven in a row, the final two going down when Porrett stripped Keuka's Trevor Powell and connected with Every for a transition layup. 

In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Randie Torgalski on the differences between the first and second halves…
"The quality of play was different between the first and second half. Our pace was better, our attention to detail was better, our ability to disrupt what they were trying to do was better, our movement offensively was better, and our overall body language and life on the court improved through the last 15 minutes of the game."

Coach Torgalski on giving Justin Porrett the green light to shoot from 3-point range as he did against the Wolves…
"They all have a green light if they're open. If it's a good shot and they can step into it, I want them to shoot with confidence. And sometimes they take bad ones, and I kind of have to live with that. But if they shoot with confidence, in rhythm, and without hesitation, it should be a good shot. He's always been capable of doing that. I think a lot of it is his own head telling him he can't. It's nice to see him get hot tonight; we needed it. It's nice to see him play like a senior. He put us on his back a little bit, for sure."

Coach Torgalski on building momentum with the win over Keuka after a tough stretch of games in the weeks leading up to tonight…
"I think the run that we went on was pretty impressive and it should give them a little confidence. It should show them that, what other teams have done to us, we can do to other teams, closing out games like that. We've played some very good teams, and I think they've learned from those games – Rochester, RPI, Oswego, Purchase – those last four games have been pretty good battles. I hope they we've learned something; we played like we did."

News and Notes

• Elmira improved to 2-5 overall on the season, while Keuka's record fell to 3-2.
• The Soaring Eagles are 17-9 in the all-time series against the Wolves.
• Both of EC's wins this season have come at home.
• The Soaring Eagles made a season-high 17 3-point field goals.
• Porrett converted a career-high eight 3-pointers, resulted in a single-game career-best 30 points.
• The last Soaring Eagles to score at least 30 points in a game were Cuffee and Hayden Harkins '18, who logged 30 and 33, respectively, in a win over St. Lawrence University last season.
• With 59 assists as a senior, Porrett has handed out 476 in his collegiate career, just 12 shy of tying the program's all-time record.
• Backus extended his streak of consecutive games with double-digit points to nine in a row, dating back to his rookie season.
• McCreery made his third straight start and scored a season-high 11 points.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles will start a five-game road trip with a non-conference tilt against St. Lawrence in Canton, New York, on Friday, December 7, at 8:00 p.m.