HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Marc Chasin led all scorers with 29 points as the Ithaca College men's basketball team held on for a 98-93 win over host Houghton College on Friday in Houghton.  With the win, Ithaca improves to 2-1 in the Empire 8 standings and 8-3 overall while Houghton falls to 5-5 overall and remains winless in the conference at 0-2.

Chasin converted 9-of-13 field goals in the win and accounted for five rebounds and three assists.  Joey Flanagan, the reigning Empire 8 and ECAC Player of the Week, finished with 24 points and five boards while freshman Peter Ezema collected his sixth double-double of the year with 17 points and a game-high 15 boards.  Sam Bevan paced the offense with seven assists to go along with 13 points.

Houghton controlled the tempo throughout much of the first half, building a 10-point lead, 33-23, with 8:09 showing on the first half clock.  From there, the Bombers would whittle the lead away as the half wore on, using a 13-2 run to take their first lead in nearly 15 minutes after a lay-up by Bevan staked the visitors to a two-point lead, 47-45, heading into halftime.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair featuring eight lead changes.  With 2:44 left to go before the final horn and the Bombers trailing by three, 90-87, Ithaca went to work scoring 11 straight points including seven from Chasin to take a eight-point lead, 98-90.  The Highlanders would drain a deep 3-pointer on their final possession, but time would run out on any comeback attempt as the Bombers picked up their second conference win of the new year.

As a team, Ithaca shot the ball well, converting 36-of-66 attempts from the floor including nine from downtown while holding Houghton.469 from the field and forcing the Highlanders into 12 turnovers.

Ithaca will continue its road trip at 2 p.m. on Saturday when it travels to Alfred to take on the Saxons.