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Men's Basketball Set for ECAC Semifinal Matchup with Rutgers-Newark

ECAC Semis 3-4-16

Men's Basketball | 3/4/2016 12:06:00 PM

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball will continue its quest for an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday as the fourth-seeded Bombers take on top-seeded Rutgers-Newark in the semifinals in the Golden Dome Arena in Newark, N.J.

Fans unable to make the journey to the Garden State can still follow the action by clicking on one of the links below:

Live Stats     |     Live Video     |     Follow the Bombers on Twitter

In the meantime, check out some game notes to help get you up to speed.

Ithaca in the ECAC Championship: The Bombers have played in the ECAC Championship four times before this season dating back to the 2003-04 season.  In that span, Ithaca has posted a 6-2 record and captured ECAC Championships in 2006 and 2010.   

A Lot Can Happen in One Second: Medgar Evers may have found this out the hard way in the quarterfinal round. Up by one point with six seconds to play, the Cougars committed a final-second foul to send Ithaca's Marc Chasin to the line for a chance to give the Bombers the lead.  Chasin, who scored a team-high 23 points, calmly walked to the line and knocked down both attempts to lift Ithaca to a 95-94 win and a date with the Scarlet Raiders in the semifinal round of play.

Seeing Double:  Double-double that is.  Ithaca's Peter Ezema enters the weekend with 14 double-doubles in 26 games this season.  To put that into perspective, the freshman ranks tied for 17th in Division III.  Ezema has also proven to be a rebounding machine as the New York City native ranks eighth in the country at 11.5 boards per game.  In all, Ezema has totaled 298 rebounds which is the fourth-highest single season total in Ithaca's storied history.  Ezema has grabbed 15 boards or more in a game six times including a career-best 19 rebounds against Hartwick.   He also ranks third on the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game.

Live and Die by the Three: What the Bombers lack in size, they more than make up for on the perimeter.  With a team comprised of mostly guards, the Bombers are capable of torching other teams from behind the arc.  Entering the weekend matchup with Rutgers-Newark, Ithaca has made 196 3-point field goals this season, which equates to nearly eight per game.  Head coach Jim Mullins' squad has also taken 574 3-pointers this season.  The Bombers have drilled 15 threes in a game once, 13 twice this season and have made 10 or more seven times.

Rutgers-Newark at a Glance: The Scarlett Raiders earned the Championship's top seed and a first round bye after posting a 20-7 overall record before falling in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship to Stockton.  Rutgers-Newark boasts three players that score in double-figures led by Jordan McDaniel's 21.1 points per game.  John Snow averages 18.2 while David Azoroh pours in 11.8 a game.  The Scarlett Knights ranked ninth of 10 teams in the NJAC in scoring offense after averaging 73.5 points per game while defensively, they surrendered only 66.9 points per contest, which was the second-lowest of any NJAC member.

The Other Semifinal: On the other side of the bracket, New Jersey City University will square off with Baruch with the winner moving on to Sunday's title game.  Second-seeded NJCU (19-8) earned its spot after defeating seventh-seeded Centenary, 86-75.  Third-seeded Baruch, which holds a 17-13 mark entering play, defeated sixth-seeded Farmingdale State, 81-76.

Players Mentioned

Marc Chasin

#3 Marc Chasin

G
6' 5"
Sophomore
Peter Ezema

#21 Peter Ezema

G
6' 2"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Marc Chasin

#3 Marc Chasin

6' 5"
Sophomore
G
Peter Ezema

#21 Peter Ezema

6' 2"
Freshman
G