HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team wound up on the wrong end of a 104-93 Empire 8 Conference shootout inside Canavan Arena at Stevens Institute of Technology on Tuesday evening to drop its record to 5-9 on the season and 1-4 in the conference. Stevens lifts its record to 11-3 and 5-1 in the E8.

The Bombers jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the opening 1:25 of the contest on layups from freshman Sebastian Alderete and junior Marc Chasin, and a free throw by junior Carroll Rich. The Ducks answered with back-to-back 3-pointers in a 36-second span to establish their first lead at 6-5, but Ithaca responded with six straight to go back ahead, 11-5, with 16:21 remaining in the half.

Ithaca maintained its lead for nearly two minutes until Stevens connected on another three to go back ahead, 15-13, with 14:30 to play. Another basket for the Ducks gave them a four-point cushion, but the Bombers received consecutive buckets from junior Joey Flanagan and freshman Riley Thompson to knot the contest at 17-17 with 13:17 to go.

The first half would be deadlocked six more times over the next 10 minutes up to 39-39 at the 3:16 mark. From there, Stevens closed out the opening 20 minutes on a 14-2 run to head into the locker room with a 41-30 lead.

Alderete notched 11 points in the first half on 5-of-10 shooting, while sophomore Peter Ezema chipped in nine points and five rebounds. Junior Marc Chasin added seven points. Ithaca shot 18-for-39 from the floor in the half, while Stevens went 20-for-32 overall and 6-for-11 from behind the arc.

Stevens maintained its double-digit lead for seven-plus minutes in the second half up until Ithaca got to within a nine-point margin at 71-62 on a 3-pointer from sophomore Matt Flood with 12:49 to play.

The Bombers continued to chip away and pulled to within an 80-76 difference on back-to-back 3-pointers from Chasin midway through the half. Just 1:36 later, a three from flood and layup from Ezema put Ithaca to within a single possession at 83-81 with 8:06 on the clock.

Neither team would score for the next 1:49, until Stevens drilled a shot from distance to go back up by five, 86-81. Four straight points would follow for the Bombers, as Rich made both shots at the line and Chasin made a layup at the 5:41 mark to bring the score to 86-85.

The Ducks would put the game out of reach with a 14-2 run over the next 4:15 to mount a 100-87 difference.

Chasin led Ithaca with 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting, while Ezema contributed 17 points (8-for-14). Rich poured in 14 points with four steals and three assists, and Alderete chipped in 13 points. Flood and Flanagan both netted 11 points for Ithaca.

Ithaca would finish the game shooting 49.4-percent from the field (38-for-77) and 44.4-percent (12-for-27) from 3-point range. Stevens continued its hot shooting in the second half and wrapped up the game with a 60.7% clip (37-for-61) and 56.5% (13-for-23) from behind the arc. Stevens also enjoyed a 17-to-5 difference in made free throws.

The Bombers are back in action on Thursday as they travel to Houghton College for an 8 p.m. showdown.