ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team looks to improve upon its 2014-15 season with a strong core of returners mixed in with a wave of new faces. The Bombers begin their season on Saturday, November 14, when they travel to Saratoga Springs to face Skidmore College.
Ithaca, which posted a 12-14 overall record and a 9-7 conference record last season will return several key components this season.
Sam Bevan is the lone senior on the Bombers' roster, but he is aided by the experienced sophomore
Marc Chasin. Chasin is coming off of a season where he earned ECAC Rookie of the Year, Empire 8 Freshman of the Year and All-Empire 8 Honorable Mention. Sophomore
Carroll Rich, who started 20 of the 26 games last season, and key role players junior
Carlin Champion and sophomore
Joey Flanagan, join Bevan and Chasin in the quest for an Empire 8 Championship.
The Bombers have also brought in a large freshman class to bolster their chances of an E8 Title. Among the newcomers, there are three forwards in
Padraic Brady,
Adam Kleckner and
Luke Cooper. The remaining five freshmen,
Peter Ezema,
Aiden Fite,
Jake Mitchell,
Matt Flood and
James VanDeventer, round out the guards on the roster for head coach
Jim Mullins who enters his 19th season at the helm.
As a team, Ithaca averaged 78.7 points per game in the 2014-15 season, leading the Empire 8. The Bombers shot .437 from the floor, while shooting a solid .354 from beyond the arc. Ithaca pulled down a total of 36.5 rebounds per game, while handing out 15.5 assists per game. The Bombers registered 5.9 steals per game, while swatting 2.6 shots per game. Chasin and Bevan ranked second and third on the team in scoring a season ago after averaging 14.8 and 10.5 points, respectively.
Ithaca has 12 home games and 13 away games scheduled this season, beginning with Saturday's game at Skidmore and followed by a mid-week game at the University of Scranton. Ithaca is slated for the annual Cortaca Classic, taking place on Nov. 20-21. The first night of the Cortaca Classic features a matchup between Ithaca and Bridgewater at Ben Light Gymnasium. The Bombers travel to Cortland on the 21st for a contest against Cobleskill.
After a brief recess for Thanksgiving, the Bombers are back in action for two consecutive games at Ben Light, taking on SUNY Cortland on Dec. 1 and St. Lawrence University on Dec. 5. Ithaca is away for a mid-week game against Wells College on Dec. 8, before coming back home for a three-game stretch, beginning with a matchup against Union on Dec. 10.
Ithaca starts Empire 8 conference play on Jan. 3 after returning from winter break, as the team faces the Stevens Ducks at 2 p.m. The team then faces Nazareth on Jan. 5 to finish out their three-game home stretch. The Bombers are at Houghton and Alfred on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, and then make their way back home for an E8 contest against Elmira on the 12th. Ithaca has a stretch of six games away from Ben Light Gymnasium from Jan. 16 to Jan. 30, five of which are conference games.
The Bombers briefly makes their way back to South Hill for a game against St. John Fisher College on Feb. 4, then travel to Stevens Institute of Technology on Feb. 9. The Bombers are then set to finish out their season by facing four conference teams at home from Feb. 12-20, ending their season against Hartwick on Feb. 20.
