HOUGHTON, NY— Jordan Holmes scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Houghton Highlanders past the Elmira Soaring Eagles on Saturday afternoon, 87-77.
 
In the opening 90 seconds it looked like Elmira would dominate, quickly hitting a layup and a pair of threes to jump out to an 8-0 lead.  The Highlanders, however, would answer with a 20-2 run to take a 10-point lead of their own five minutes later.
 
The Soaring Eagles battled back and with 47 seconds remaining in the half Elmira's Rashaad Nurse cut the Houghton lead to two with a layup.  With time running out, Houghton's Isander Ramos-Net drove the lane and kicked the ball to a wide-open Scottie Berghaus, who drained a three as time elapsed, putting the Highlanders back up by five points at the half.
 
In the second half Houghton again built a sizable lead only to see the Soaring Eagles rally.  With just over seven minutes left to play Elmira's Jesse Adelson hit a three-pointer to pull the Soaring Eagles within three points.
 
The Highlanders immediately responded with a fastbreak layup from Darren Clark, and moments later Billy McCrae put Houghton back up by seven with a layup of his own.
 
With five minutes to go and Houghton still up by seven, Holmes hit the dagger, draining a deep three, drawing a foul and hitting the free throw to cap a four-point play.
 
Elmira continued to challenge, but the Highlanders went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the game's final 30 seconds to seal the win.
 
GAME VITALS
Score: Houghton – 87 | Elmira – 77
Records: Houghton: 5-18 (3-9 Empire 8) | Elmira: 2-22 (1-12 Empire 8)
Venue: The Nielsen Center, Houghton College | Attendance: 203

NOTABLE STATS
>> Free throws and shooting percent, particularly from beyond the arc, proved the biggest difference in the game.  Elmira hit only 39 percent of their shots, and went 6-of-30 (20 percent) from deep, and while they made 15-of-18 shots from the line, Houghton converted 25-of-31 foul shots, made 43.5 percent overall and hit 8-of-20 (40 percent) from long range.
 
>> Holmes eclipsed the 20-point mark for the seventh time this season, and the 30-point mark for the first time in his career, surpassing his previous best of 28 points against Penn-State Abington on December 14.  The double-double is his ninth of the season and fourth in the last six games.  Holmes performance also moved him above 900 career points, giving him a total of 917.
 
>> Billy McCrae scored 18 points—the 11^th time he has reached double-figures this season—and grabbed seven boards, while Isander Ramos-Net scored seven points and added nine assists, the latter of which is the second-highest output of his career.  Ramos-Net has dished out at least five assists in each of his last four games and 13 times total this season.  
 
>> Jeff Jung posted 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Soaring Eagles, while Jesse Adelson tacked on an additional 14 points.
 
UP NEXT
On Tuesday, February 15 the Highlanders will head to Utica College to take on the Pioneers at 5:30 p.m.  The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, February 8, but was moved due to adverse weather conditions.