HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team nearly overcame a 12 point deficit late in the second, but was unable to complete the comeback effort as the Bombers were saddled with an 89-87 loss against Stevens Institute of Technology on Tuesday evening inside Canavan Arena.

With the loss, Ithaca moves its overall record to 11-10 while its conference record dips to 5-7.  The Ducks, who entered the contest tied with Ithaca for fourth place in the Empire 8 standings, improve to 10-11 overall and 6-6 against empire 8 competition.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair as the Bombers and Ducks swapped the lead 15 times before the Bombers took a one-point advantage into the locker room when Marc Chasin drained one of his team-high three 3-pointers to give Ithaca a 45-44 lead at halftime.

Coming out of the break, Ithaca would get off to a slow start, while the Ducks found their grove on the offensive end going 7-for-10 from the floor en route to a 15-2 run to take a 12 point lead, 59-47.

Stevens would maintain its hold as the half wore on, but the tide would begin to shift with just over eight minutes to go in the game. Trailing by eight points, 74-66, Ithaca would stretch the Ducks' defense to its limits, scoring eight unanswered points including six from the free throw line to tie the game at 74 points apiece.

The Bombers would tie the game two more times over the next two minutes before another triple by Chasin staked the visitors to their first lead of the game since the final seconds of the first frame, 81-80, with 4:33 still to play.

The lead would change hands four more times before Ithaca would string together four consecutive points – a pair of free throws by Peter Ezema and a lay-up by Chasin, to build a three point lead, 87-84, with 41 seconds before the final whistle, but the momentum wouldn't last as the Ducks closed out the game with five straight points to earn the all important conference win, 89-87.

Chasin led all scorers with 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting.  The Coral Gables, Fla. native also added four rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.  Ezema notched his 10th double-double of his freshman campaign with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Joey Flanagan finished with 16 points and four steals.  Sam Bevan chipped in with four helpers.

Overall, the Bombers out-rebounded their host, 47-43, while forcing the Ducks into 11 turnovers. 
  
The Bombers will return home for the first of four straight home games at 6 p.m. on Friday when they host Houghton College in Ben Light Gymnasium.