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Andrei Oztemel

Men's Basketball

Mitchell Shines; Second-Half Surge Leads Lebanon Valley by Ithaca, 91-78

Box Score

Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Ithaca men's basketball team (0-4) suffered a 91-78 setback to Lebanon Valley in a neutral-site game on day one of the Radisson Carnegie Mellon Invitational.

Ithaca held a 44-40 edge at intermission, but the Dutchmen surged to outscore the Bombers, 51-34, in the second frame. Ithaca shot a season-best 48.4 percent during the game, but was challenged by LVC's 57.6 percent accuracy. Lebanon Valley outrebounded Ithaca, 35-28.

Sophomore Frank Mitchell (Hillsborough/Hillsborough, N.J.) recorded his first career double-double with a career-high 27 points in addition to his 10 boards, while junior Andrei Oztemel (Staples/Westport, Conn.) drained 20. Junior Sean Rossi (Sparta/Lake Hopatcong, N.J.), who ended the last two seasons as the Division III assists leader, dished out a season-best 12 assists and added 10 points for his first double-double of the season.

Senior Jordan Marcus (Solomon Schechter/West Orange, N.J.) pieced together a season-best tying 16-point performance to move into eighth-place all-time at Ithaca for career points (1,250).

The Dutchmen opened the game with a 6-0 run, but Ithaca brought the game within one at 16:22. Lebanon Valley maintained a slight edge, while Ithaca twice knotted the action, before a Mitchell jumper gave Ithaca its first lead, 22-21, at 11:09. A Rossi trey allowed the Bombers a four-point gap at the half, 44-40.

The teams battled for the lead early in the second, but an 11-2 LVC run gave the Dutchmen the lead indefinitely. Mitchell answered with five straight to bring the game to 66-63, but Lebanon Valley responded with nine consecutive points as three minutes ticked off the clock. Rossi drove the line for a three-point play en route to cutting the Bombers' deficit to five at 5:29.

The Dutchmen secured a double-digit advantage, 81-70, at 4:29 with a 6-0 streak. Rossi and Oztemel swished back-to-back threes to again make it a five-point game, but Lebanon Valley outlasted Ithaca with a 10-2 run down the stretch to claim its third consecutive victory.

The Bombers will face Otterbein at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Otterbein fell to the host Tartans, 77-70, on Saturday afternoon.