Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca men's basketball team (7-10, 4-2 Empire 8) suffered an 84-80 setback to visiting Alfred (10-5, 3-3 Empire 8) on Saturday afternoon at Ben Light Gymnasium.

Ithaca was 21-for-22 from the charity stripe, a single-game performance that ranks fourth all-time at Ithaca, while shooting just 39.3 percent from the field. Alfred shot 42.6 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Bombers, 42-35.

Ithaca jumped out to a marginal lead, but a 13-0 Alfred spurt secured its lead indefinitely. Ithaca cut the gap to four before a Saxon three sent the teams to the locker rooms with a 42-35 Alfred spread at intermission. The Bombers used back-to-back threes and an and-one to knot the game, 53-53 at 13:13, but Alfred continued to deny Ithaca the lead. One of Ithaca's 11 treys brought the Bombers within two with eight seconds lingering in the game, but the Saxons hit two from the line to secure the victory.

Senior Jordan Marcus (Solomon Schechter/West Orange, N.J.) posted his first career double-double with a team-best 22 points and a career-high 10 boards, while sophomore Frank Mitchell (Hillsborough/Hillsborough, N.J.) chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and junior Sean Rossi (Sparta/Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) dished out a game-high 13 assists and added 10 points for his second double-double of the season and the 16th of his career.

Freshman Max Masucci (Hopkinton/Hopkinton, Mass.) made his first collegiate start and tallied 19 points to upend his previous career-high of seven. Junior Andrei Oztemel (Staples/Westport, Conn.) added 10 points and seven boards for the Blue & Gold.

Despite taking an early 13-9 edge, the Bombers surrendered 13 unanswered as Alfred powered to a 25-15 lead at 9:26. Ithaca cut it to five with six straight at the charity stripe, but again Alfred surged for a double-digit lead, 35-24, at 5:39. Oztemel drained a three from the left wing and made the ensuing free throw to cut within four with 40 ticks left in the first frame, but a buzzer-beating three secured a 42-35 Alfred gap at intermission.

Masucci had a four-point play of his own that was backed by a Marcus three to deadlock the game at 53-53, but Alfred was able to stay a step ahead of the Bombers in the second. The Saxons posted a 12-point lead at 5:29, though Ithaca scored 16 of the next 22 points to cut its deficit to two, 82-80, with eight seconds on the clock. Alfred hit two free throws in the game's final second to lock in the win.

The Bombers will next host Utica on Tuesday at 8 p.m.