Box Score ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team dropped the opening game of the Empire 8 Tournament to top-seeded St. John Fisher Friday night, falling to the Cardinals by a score of 90-75 at Manning & Napier Gymnasium. The loss pushes Ithaca's overall record to 12-14 on the season. The victory improves St. John Fisher's record to 22-4, and advances the Cardinals to the conference championship game on Saturday.
The Bombers hit 27-of-58 shots from the floor, good for a 46.6 shooting percentage on the night. Ithaca hit 45.5 percent of its shots from beyond the arc, going 11-of-24 from three-point range. The Bombers shot 6-of-8 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
Four Bombers scored in double-figures, led by senior
Keefe Gitto's 16 points. Gitto's point total paired with a team-high 10 rebounds, giving him his fifth-straight double-double and 12th double-double of the season. Freshman
Marc Chasin ranked second with 14 points, while his four assists paced the roster. Sophomore
Carlin Champion recorded 12 points in just 17 minutes off the bench, thanks to a 4-for-5 shooting performance from beyond the arc. Senior
Max Masucci rounded out the top scorers with 11 points.
The Bombers and Cardinals went toe-to-toe in the opening frame, as neither was able to gain more than a single-digit lead at any given time. Ithaca did a majority of its damage beyond the arc, hitting 6-of-12 (50 percent) attempts from three-point range. Chasin got the Bombers rolling with seven-straight points to open the contest, starting with a three ball to give Ithaca the initial 3-0 lead. The first half featured nine lead changes, with the Cardinals taking a slight edge into the break, leading the Bombers by a score of 39-35.
Ithaca opened the second half with four-straight points, capped off by a layup from Gitto to tie the score at 39-39 just two minutes into the frame. The Cardinals gained their offense jump from there, outscoring the Bombers 13-3 over a four-minute span to take the game's first double digit lead at 52-42. Fisher continued to roll in the middle of the half, taking a 67-49 lead on Ithaca with just under 10 minutes to play.
With the season on the line, the Bombers responded with their strongest offensive push of the night. Ithaca went on a 19-11 run over a seven-minute window, pulling the Bombers back to within seven points of the host Cardinals. Hot shooting from the outside accounted for nine of Ithaca's points over the run, ending with a three ball from Masucci to put the score at 75-68 with just under four minutes left.
Ithaca hung tight in the final possessions, but the Cardinals ultimately pulled away down the stretch to take the 90-75 playoff victory.
The defeat concludes the Bombers' Empire 8 Tournament run and marks the end of the 2014-15 campaign. Ithaca finished the year with 12 wins overall and nine wins in conference, both improving on the previous season's total. Ithaca also finished the season with three players receiving annual conference recognition, including an All-Empire 8 First Team selection (Gitto) and the conference's Rookie of the Year (Chasin).
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