Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team (17-8, 10-4 Empire 8) claimed a 76-69 victory over visiting Nazareth (15-10, 7-7 Empire 8) on Saturday afternoon at Ben Light Gymnasium to conclude regular-season play.

Senior Sean Rossi entered the contest needing 12 assists to tie the NCAA Division III record of 917 that has stood for 10 years. He matched it. He now shares the record with Ramapo's Tennyson Whitted that dished out 917 assists from 2000-03 over the course of 108 games.

The game was the final contest on the current floor in Ben Light Gymnasium. The Hill Center is currently undergoing renovations that are scheduled to be complete for the 2013-14 season.

There were 18 lead changes during the game and eight ties. The Bombers took the lead indefinitely with 10:25 lingering in the game. Ithaca went 16-for-22 from the free throw line in the second, helping to seal the victory down the stretch.

Four Bombers scored in the double digits. Junior Tom Sweeney led the team with 19. Senior Eli Maravich drained 18, classmate Travis Warech 17 and junior Frank Mitchell 12. Warech tallied his fourth double-double of the season adding 11 rebounds. Maravich flirted with one of his own having grabbed nine boards. Senior Jordan Healey had a trio of steals to lead the game.

Fourteen of the 18 lead changes came in the first half. Nazareth held the largest lead of the opening 20 with a 12-7 gap at 15:13. Ithaca rebounded to twice have a four-point margin, lastly at the six-minute mark. A 10-2 Golden Flyer streak made it a 37-33 game at 3:06. The Bombers closed out the half with eight of the last 10 points to lead 41-39. Healey snapped a 39-39 deadlock with a layup at the buzzer.

A Warech trey opened the second. Naz took a three-point edge at 12:35, but seven unanswered Bomber points over a two-minute span secured Ithaca the lead for good. It was a one-possession game at the three-minute mark. Ithaca hit 12-of-15 free throws during the final 1:45 of play to preserve the win.

The Bombers owned the boards with a 42-29 rebounding margin and an 18-6 gap in second-chance points. Nazareth shot 44.1 percent from the floor to Ithaca's 42.9 percent.

Ithaca will travel to top-seeded and 24th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology for the Empire 8 Championship Tournament on Friday, Feb. 22. The second-seeded Bombers will take on third-seeded St. John Fisher in a semifinal game at 8 p.m.

Ben Light Gymnasium – Ithaca's volleyball, wrestling, gymnastics and men's and women's basketball teams compete at Ben Light Gymnasium inside of the Hill Center. Ithaca College's main gymnasium was dedicated on December 5, 1964. The facility, with seating capacity for 2,600 spectators, is housed in the Laurence S. Hill Physical Education Center and was later named after former administrator Ben Light in action taken by the school's board of trustees in February of 1968. An extensive renovation to the gymnasium is taking place in 2013 and will include a new floor and bleachers.

Ben Light was a football, basketball and baseball standout at Ithaca College. A 1936 graduate, he was hired as a faculty member and coach. Following World War II Light took over the men's basketball program and guided the Bombers to a 70-51 record over the next seven seasons. In 1952 he was named the school's first director of admission and placement, and seven years later he became secretary of Ithaca College. In 1968 Light was named vice president of development, a position he held until his death.