Men’s basketball team defeats Elmira, 95-81, in first round of Holiday Inn Downtown Tournament

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Olivet College men's basketball team defeated Elmira (N.Y.) College, 95-81, in a first round of the Holiday Inn Downtown Tournament, hosted by University of Rochester and inside the Louis Alexander Palestra. The Comets advance to play the host Yellow Jackets in the championship game tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. Rochester defeated Stockton (N.J.) University, 72-65, in the other first round game.

Final Score: Olivet 95, Elmira 81
Location: Louis Alexander Palestra; Rochester, New York
Records: Elmira 1-5 overall, Olivet 2-1 overall

• Elmira led by six points, 13-7, at the 14:13 mark of the opening half. Olivet answered with an 11-3 run over the next three minutes to gain an 18-16 lead. The Soaring Eagles came back with a 13-5 scoring spurt for a six-point advantage, 29-23, with 6:39 left until halftime. The Comets ended the half on a 17-9 run to take a 40-38 halftime lead. The go-ahead points were a put-back basket by senior Dane Vos at the buzzer.
• Early in the second half, Elmira went ahead by a single point on three occasions. After the last time at 47-46, senior Derrick Johnson drained back-to-back shots from behind the three-point arc to put Olivet ahead 52-47 at the 14:02 mark. The Comets did not trail for the rest of the game, leading by as many as 14 points.

• For the game, Olivet shot 50.8 percent (33-of-65) from the floor compared to 39.4 percent (28-of-71) for the Soaring Eagles. The Comets also made eight more baskets from behind the three-point arc.
• Johnson, senior Eddie Thigpen and freshman Lorris Upshaw each scored 19 points.
• Johnson also had six rebounds, six assists and three steals, while not committing a turnover in 37 minutes.
• Freshman Patrick Hollis came off the bench to grab nine rebounds.

"This was the type of game the last two years that we would lose," said Olivet head men's basketball coach Sam Hargraves. "Even though we certainly didn't play a full, tough 40 minutes, we did play well long enough to get a win. We did some good things in the second half when we picked-up our energy defensively. Tomorrow, we will have to play much tougher to even have a chance against a very talented Rochester team."

• Rashaad Nurse led Elmira with 19 points and eight rebounds.
• Bryan Adams and David Kruis had 14 and 12 points, respectively.
• Harry Ravitz tallied 10 points.

• Following tomorrow's game, the Comets are off until Friday, December 10, when they host University of Wisconsin-Platteville at 7 p.m.