Box Score l Updated Stats

ROCHESTER, NY – Sophomore Brendan Wind picked up where he left off Tuesday night, scoring a career-high 38 points, to help Nazareth to an 80-71 win Thursday on the Golden Flyers' Senior Night – the 38 points (11-for-19) is also a season-high for any Nazareth player.  Wind previously had a career-high of 29 points, which he scored Tuesday night against Houghton College.

The basketball program recognized its four seniors Thursday, including Josh Gillard, Jack Mulcahy, Denzell Jackson and team manager Reggie Lane. 

Nazareth improves to 15-7 overall and 9-4 in Empire 8 play with the victory, while Elmira falls to 3-19 and 1-12, respectively.   With the win at home, Nazareth finishes the season 10-3 at Kidera Gymnasium.

In the second half, Nazareth seized momentum with an 8-0 run over a two minute span to take a 57-44 lead with 11:37 to play.  Daniel Jacob got things started with a 3-pointer and Wind had the other five points, including a traditional 3-point play.  Wind finished the game 16-for-18 from the charity stripe.

Nazareth continued to extend its lead behind the strong play of Wind later in the half.  His 30^th point gave Nazareth a 63-50 lead near the eight minute mark.

The Soaring Eagles came to within single digits at 63-54, however, a 3-pointer from senior Jack Mulcahy put Nazareth ahead by double-digits until under a minute to play.      

The first half featured strong play from each squad, as they exchanged blow-for-blow.  Nazareth was 12-for-25 (48 percent), while the Soaring Eagles went 13-for-25.

Elmira had a short-lived 15-14 lead, before Gillard connected on a 3-pointer and stole the ensuing inbounds pass for a layup.  Nazareth led 19-15 at the midway point.

Wind drove to the basket for a layup at the end of the half to score two of his 15 first half points. 

Jake Burgio ground out 15 points on 4-for-5 from the field to go along with eight rebounds.  Gillard ended with 10 points (3-for-6), while Jackson had four (2-for-3). 

Nazareth travels to East Avenue rival St. John Fisher on Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest.   The Golden Flyers handed Fisher (11-1) its lone conference loss, 75-67, on January 26 at Kidera Gymnasium.