ITHACA, N.Y. – Joey Flanagan scored a career-high 22 points as the Ithaca College men's basketball team overcame a halftime deficit to down Bridgewater State, 86-73, on Friday in the Cortaca Classic at Ben Light Gymnasium.

With the win, Ithaca improves to 2-1 overall while the Bears slip to 1-3.  

The Bears jumped out to an early lead, scoring the game's first five points before the Bombers battled back using a 13-3 run capped by four straight points from senior Sam Bevan to take a 13-8 lead.

With Ithaca leading by six, 23-17, the momentum seemed to shift to Bridgewater after the Bears used a 19-5 run that included three from distance to put the Bombers in a nine-point hole, 37-28, but the home team would counter with a run of its own, scoring eight unanswered points including four in the paint to make it a one-point game, 37-36.

As the opening half wore on, both teams would find their rhythm, exchanging baskets to make it 41-40 at the half.

Coming out of intermission, the Bombers took the lead for good, using a 16-4 run including 10 unanswered points to claim a 57-45 lead with 14:42 remaining in the contest.

The Bears would cut the lead to three points after a pair of free throws, but as it had the entire game, Ithaca responded with an 8-2 flurry to push the lead back to nine points with under six minutes to go.

From there, it was all Ithaca as the Bombers' defense would surrender only five baskets for the remainder of the game while on the offensive end, Ithaca converted 11-of-12 free throws opportunities over the final two minutes to earn the 13-point win.

Flanagan led the way with a team-high 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor.  Peter Ezema narrowly missed his third consecutive double-double after notching nine points and a career-best 16 boards.  Sophomore guard Marc Chasin added 18 points in the win to go along with three assists and Bevan contributed 15 points including three 3-pointers along with four rebounds, four assists and two steals.  Carroll Rich poured in 12 points and tallied two steals.

As a team, the Bombers shot 28-of-59 from the floor (.475) while nailing down 10-of-18 chances from the charity stripe.  Defensively, Ithaca held the Bears to 41 percent from the field and forced the visitors into 21 turnovers.

IC's next bout is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday when it takes on SUNY Cobleskill in the Cortaca Classic in Cortland.