After an exciting double overtime victory against Hartwick College on Jan. 23, the men’s basketball team continued its six-game road trip with a 80–64 victory against the Elmira College Soaring Eagles.
Sophomore guard Marc Chasin led the South Hill squad with 29 points, shooting 10–17 from the floor and 2–3 from the 3-point range.
The last time the Bombers played the 3–15 Soaring Eagles Jan. 12, the Bombers shot a then season low 43.3 percent from the floor and 27.8 percent from the 3-point range. The Bombers would eventually be able to pull away late to secure a 77–73 victory despite their poor statistical performance.
This time, aided by Chasin’s strong performance, the Bombers as a team shot 47.7 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from the 3-point range, closely matching their season average in both categories.
The Bombers began the game off hot, going on a 9–2 run in the first three minutes of the contest. But like their last matchup, the Soaring Eagles did not lie down easily, going on an 8–2 run to cut the Bombers’ lead to 11–10 with 14:56 to go in the first half.
However, that would be as close as the Bombers would allow the Soaring Eagles to get. The Bombers went up by as many as seven points, going into the intermission leading 35–30.
In the second half, the Bombers began to pull away after sophomore guard Joey Flanagan and senior guard Sam Bevan hit back-to-back 3-pointers within 41 seconds of each other to make the score 43–37.
The Soaring Eagles were able to cut the Bomber lead to 11 with five minutes to go, but layups by Chasin, Flanagan and freshman guard Peter Ezema in the final minutes solidified the Bombers’ second consecutive victory.
With the win, the Bombers sweep the season series against the Soaring Eagles, improving their Empire 8 Conference record to 5–4 and their overall record to 11–7. The win keeps the Bombers in fourth place in the Empire 8 Conference standing with seven games to play in the regular season.
The Bombers return to action Jan. 30 in Rochester, New York, when they take on first place Nazareth College in the final game of their six-game road trip.
