January 5, 2008
ONEONTA, N.Y. - Chris Henderson netted 14 points to pace Elmira to a 53-47 victory over Hartwick in Empire 8 men's basketball action, Saturday afternoon at Binder Gym.
The sophomore went five of seven from the floor and four of five from the charity stripe, while Evan Taylor and David Nelson each added eight points in the winning cause.
The Soaring Eagles, now 3-8 overall and 1-4 in league action, rallied from a 32-26 deficit with 17:46 remaining and captured the lead for good at on a three-pointer by Taylor with 12:04 left in regulation. Elmira, which held off a few charges by Hartwick in the closing 10 minutes, built its largest lead with 6:10 left at 48-41 on a jumper by Nick Epley. The Hawks pulled within three on two separate occasions, but couldn't get any closer.
Hartwick, which dropped its third-consecutive contest, came out firing threes as
A.J. Beaulieu (Chicopee, Mass.) and
Jan Cocozziello (Scotch Plains, N.J.) accounted for nine of the Hawks' 11 points in the opening 2:31 of the clash. Trailing 11-3 out of the game at 15-7 with 13:22 left in the first half, the Soaring Eagles rallied to take their first lead at 20-18 on a lay-up by Peter Lokai with 5:13 left before intermission. Following a three-pointer by Taylor to get EC's lead to 23-20, Hartwick ended the first half on a mini 7-3 spurt.
Martin McCann (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) netted five of those points, including a three-pointer to give Hawks the advantage once again at 25-23. Hartwick went into the half leading 27-26.
The Hawks were led by Beaulieu's game-high 16-point, 6-rebound effort, while Cocozziello posted 11 points and 5 rebounds in the defeat.
Cory Carson (Gansevoort, N.Y.) chipped in 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in 29 minutes of action before fouling out late in the contest.
Hartwick, now 6-5 (2-3 in league action) will return to action, January 11 as it travels to Hoboken, N.J., to face league opponent Stevens Tech. Tip-off for the men's game is set for 8 p.m.
