ITHACA, N.Y. – A second-half offensive cold spell proved to be the difference for the Ithaca College men's basketball team when it returned to action on Thursday evening against Utica College at Ben Light Gymnasium. The visiting Pioneers held the Bombers to their lowest scoring output in nearly three seasons in besting the home side 73-53 at Ben Light Gymnasium. The loss dropped Ithaca to 6-11 overall and 2-6 in Empire 8 play, while Utica improved to 5-12 on the year with a 5-3 mark in conference action.
 
Junior guard Joey Flanagan paced the Bombers with 14 points, which included a 3-for-8 mark from beyond the arc. He also added a personal season-best four steals all coming in the opening half of play.
 
Junior guard, Marc Chasin, and sophomore forward, Peter Ezema, each chipped in 10 points in the contest. The second-year big man from New York, N.Y., also swiped a career-high five steals and added five boards in the game.
 
The Bombers put the ball in Ezema's hands during the early portions of the contest and the sophomore did not disappoint. He was red-hot during the opening minutes, knocking down three buckets for six points. The fast start staked IC to a tight 13-12 lead.
 
The Pioneers' offense began to gain traction during the middle portion of the half when they too began to feed the ball inside. Utica center, Ivan Iton, pushed the visitors into the lead with eight points over a 1:54 span. The scoring run pushed Utica ahead 27-20. Iton finished the first half with a game-high 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
 
When it looked as though the visitors might push the lead to double-digits, Ithaca turned to Chasin and Flanagan to claw back into the contest. The junior guard knocked down an off-balanced jumper in the lane to cut the deficit back within a possession at 27-24 with 5:42 left in the half.
 
Flanagan had a huge half with a team-high 11 points, which included a 2-for-4 mark from beyond the arc. He capped his excellent half with a steal, one of four swipes in total during the opening 20 minutes, before going coast-to-coast for a bucket plus the foul with under three minutes remaining.
 
Carroll Rich finished the half with a contested jumper to get Ithaca back within a possession at the break, trailing Utica 36-33. The Bombers shot 42.9-percent from the field (15-of-35), but were still searching for their range going just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc.
 
It looked as though the range shooting would turn around right off the hop to begin the second stanza, as Flanagan continued his hot shooting with a deep corner triple to level the score at 36-36. However, the Pioneers responded with a 14-4 run to open up its widest lead at 49-40.
 
IC again chipped away as Gabe Perez-Ronchetta made a beautiful cut to the bucket for a layup. Rich followed with a baseline runner on the ensuing possession to again pull within five points at 49-44. However, another big scoring run, this time a 21-2 scoring run by the visitors over a 10:33 span widened the Utica lead to 70-46 with under three minutes remaining.
 
Ezema finally broke the Ithaca scoring drought, which ballooned to 6:36 down the back stretch of the half, with a layup plus the foul. Unfortunately, it was too late for an IC comeback, as the Bombers fell 73-53.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Saturday, January 28, when it welcomes St. John Fisher for a 4:00 p.m. contest at Ben Light Gymnasium.