ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Host Nazareth gained a historic men's basketball victory Tuesday as the Golden Flyers overcame an early deficit to defeat a scrappy Elmira squad, 81-71, on Mike Daley Court at the Kidera Gymnasium.

The Golden Flyers, ranked 25th nationally by d3hoops.com, set a school record with their 15th straight and finished the night with a gaudy overall record of 17-1. That includes a perfect 9-0 mark in Empire 8 Conference play. It was Nazareth's second win of the season over the Soaring Eagles, who fell to 5-13 overall and 3-6 in the E8. Nazareth's winning streak, which started back on Nov. 18, broke the previous record that was set in the 1985-86 season.

Stephen Gabel led a group of five Nazareth players that scored in double figures with 20 points. Kevin Underwood delivered off the bench for the Golden Flyers again as he scored 18 points, with 14 in the first half. Zach Stenglein scored 12 points and passed for a season-high nine assists. Isaac Nelson had 10 points and four assists and Jonathan Park combined 10 points with seven rebounds and five blocks.

A perplexing zone defense employed by Elmira created problems early on for the Golden Flyers, who fell behind early and trailed by as many as 14 points in the first eight minutes.

It was 25-11 Elmira when the Golden Flyers began working their way back thanks to the first-half scoring of Underwood. Nazareth closed the half with a 29-9 scoring spree, fueled by 14 points from Underwood, to take a 40-34 lead at the half. Nelson nailed a three-pointer to start the scoring run. Then Underwood scored 12 of his points in a five-minute stretch as Nazareth secured the lead for good at 33-30 with 4:25 to go.

Elmira closed within one point in the final minute, but Nazareth ended the half by scoring the last five points -- a three-pointer by Stenglein and another basket by Underwood -- for the six-point halftime difference.

The second half featured 14 points from Gabel, who drained three three-point shots. Nazareth's lead swelled to double digits as a result of a 12-7 scoring run in the first five minutes. Two baskets by Park and three-pointers by Nelson and Logan Blankenberg helped Nazareth pad its lead.

The margin grew as large as 15 points following Gabel's three-pointer with six minutes left. He hit another with less than a minute remaining and left the rest up to the Golden Flyers' foul shooters as Nelson knocked down a pair and Stenglein sank four more to seal the win.

Nazareth went 26-for-60 (.43.3%) for the game with 10 three-pointers from six different shooters.

Tuesday's game was the first of four straight home games for the Golden Flyers, who host Russell Sage (Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Hartwick (Saturday at 4 p.m.) this weekend.