ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca men's basketball team (15-5, 8-3 Empire 8) fell to visiting Utica (10-8, 4-6 Empire 8), 94-89, on Saturday afternoon at Ben Light Gymnasium. Junior guard Jordan Marcus (Solomon Schechter/West Orange, N.J.) hit nine three pointers on the day, just one shy of the Bombers' school-record 10, to lead Ithaca with 35 points.

Marcus has 214 career three-pointers to his name to rank second all-time at Ithaca.

In addition to Marcus' 35, freshman guard Miles Grier (Druid Hills/Lilburn, Ga.) flirted with a career-high finishing the contest with 18 points, while sophomore guard Sean Rossi (Sparta/Sparta, N.J.) chipped in 11 and senior guard Chris Cruz-Rivas (West Genesee/Syracuse) 10. Ithaca has placed four or more in double figures 18 times this season.

Senior center Phil Barera (Belmont/Belmont, Mass.) and sophomore forward Andrei Oztemel (Staples/Westport, Conn.) led the game with eight boards a piece, while Rossi dished out a game-best nine assists. Cruz-Rivas added a game-high four steals to the Bombers' statistics.

The Pioneers hit 57.8 percent from the floor in the win, while the Bombers converted on just 44.3 percent of their shots.

Marcus, who drained six three-pointers over a four-minute span, led the Bombers in opening the first frame. At the 15-minute mark, Ithaca would claim the lead for the remainder of the half. Marcus' sixth consecutive trey helped set the first two-possession lead of the game at 13:28. Marcus, Grier and Rossi then combined to help Ithaca outscore Utica 9-4 and take a 10-point advantage at 10:38.

Ithaca maintained the gap and increased it to 12 with a Cruz-Rivas triple, one the Bombers' game-high 14, at 7:34, but the Pioneers outlasted the Bombers down the stretch. Utica had the game within one at 2:45 before taking a two-point, 49-47, deficit to the locker room at the half.

The second stint was deadlocked on six occasions as the teams battled through the 20-minute period. The lead changed 11 times as Utica surged to victory by outscoring the Bombers, 47-40.

The Barera-Cruz-Rivas tandem tallied a pair in the paint early in the period to keep the Bombers a step ahead, but the bucket-for-bucket mentality of the opening five minutes helped the visiting squad keep within striking distance. At 14:24 a Utica jumper would put the Pioneers ahead for the next five minutes. The Bombers netted six unanswered to take a 77-73 edge at 7:23, but Utica answered with nine of its own to never again trail.

The Bombers twice knotted action within the final two minutes, but the Pioneers held strong for their second victory over Ithaca this season.

Ithaca will next travel to St. John Fisher on Friday, Feb. 11 for an 8 p.m. game.

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