Men's Basketball Holds off Hartwick to Earn First Conference Win

Elmira, NY - In today's second game of the Empire 8 conference double-header, men's basketball defeated Hartwick College to earn not only their second win of the season but also their first conference win as well.

For the entire 40 minutes EC never once trailed the Hawks at any point.  The Soaring Eagles took an early 5 point lead in the first few minutes of the game.  EC would hold Hartwick to only 6 points in the first 10 minutes of the game, while they recorded a season high 20 points.  It was not until Hartwicks Cory Carson '08 ended the drought offensively for the Hawks.  The pressure on Hartwick would continue to mount while EC slowly extended their lead to 16 points with 8 minutes left in the half.  The Hawks would post a last minute come back with less than 5 minutes left in the half.  Hartwick would close the 16 point lead down to only 7 points.  Fourth year forward Matt Keating '07 led the Purple and Gold scoring a total of 10 points in the half. 

The second half was explosive from the start.  EC woud continue to pressure Hartwick's defense, but for the first time in the game Hartwick would really pressure EC for the lead.  EC's lead would not exceed more than 11 points until the final seconds of the game.  Everytime Hartwick would close the lead down to 8 or 9 points EC would once again put the pressure on to keep their lead.  First year player Jason Brown '10 and second year player  Joe Prunier '07 helped EC keep their lead over Hartwick in the second half.  Brown who was 5-7 from the floor, 3-5 from outside the arch, and 4-5 from the line led the Purple and Gold in scoring with 17 points.  Prunier finished today's game with 13 points and currently leads the team in total points scored with 133 points (10.2 points per game). 

EC will now take the momentum from toay's win into Tuesday's non-conference game against Hobart College.  Tuesday's game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. at Speidel Gymnasium. 

Box Score