DAYTONA, Fla. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team extended its winning streak to seven consecutive games on Thursday evening as the Bombers defeated Brooklyn College, 81-65, at the Land of Magic Tournament in Daytona, Fla. With the victory, Ithaca is now 7-1 overall after a 16-day break, while Brooklyn falls to 0-9.

Ithaca jumped out to a five-point lead over the opening 1:18 as junior Peter Ezema went 1-for-2 at the free throw line and classmate Matt Flood converted a four-point possession.

Brooklyn battled back to tie the contest at 9-9 with 15:11 remaining in the half, but the Bombers went on a 9-1 run over the next 4:41 to take an 18-10 advantage. During the stretch, four different players found the scoring column, highlighted by a 3-pointer from freshman Cooper Macklin, who finished the half with eight points and five rebounds.

At the 8:29 mark, senior Carroll Rich threw down a dunk and then Macklin followed with a pair of makes at the line to give the Bombers their first double-digit lead of the evening at 24-13.

Over the next three minutes, Brooklyn cut the Bombers' cushion down to single digits on two separate occasions, but after a 29-20 score with 5:05 on the clock, Ithaca responded with a 16-0 run up to the final minute of play to establish its largest lead of the half at 45-20. Brooklyn scored the final basket of the half on a layup with four seconds on the clock.

Ithaca shot 50-percent from the floor (18-for-36), at the line (5-for-10) and beyond the 3-point arc (4-for-8) over the opening 20 minutes. IC also accounted for 24 of its first half points in the paint.

The Bulldogs quickly scored four points to open the second half and trimmed their deficit to less than 20 points at 45-26. Ithaca built its lead back up to 22 points at 52-30 on a jumper from junior Peter Ezema with 17:05 to play, but Brooklyn would answer with a 10-2 run over the next 3:23 to pull to within a 14-point difference at 54-40.

Sophomore Sebastian Alderete then sparked a 5-0 spurt for IC with four points in a minute of play to give the Bombers a 19-point advantage at 59-40. Four straight points by Brooklyn brought things back to a 59-44 difference with 11:55 remaining, but two points apiece from Alderete, Rich and Ezema extended Ithaca's cushion back out to 21 points at 65-44 with 10:38 remaining.

With just under five minutes to play in the outing, Macklin connected once again from 3-point range to give the Bombers their largest lead of the second half at 77-54, and IC would then close out the contest with an 81-65 win.

Junior James VanDeventer capped off the scoring for IC on a jumper with 1:23 left.

Ithaca finished the game shooting 30-for-65 from the field (46.2%), 15-for-24 at the line (62.5%) and 6-for-16 from distance (37.5%). The Bombers outrebounded Brooklyn, 44-34, and dished out 11 assists. Down low, IC added 16 points more in the paint in the second half to finish the even with 40.

Thompson led Ithaca with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting, to go along with four rebounds, while Macklin tallied 13 points, seven boards and three assists. Alderete chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.

Ezema narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds, while Flood also notched nine points in the win. Rich finished the night with seven points and senior Marc Chasin netted eight points on 4-of-5 from the floor.

Senior Joey Flanagan and junior Miles Herman each scored four points for IC, while Herman also pulled down seven rebounds.

The Bombers will conclude their Florida trip with an 11 a.m. tip-off against Hiram College on Saturday. Ithaca will then return home to open Liberty League play on January 5-6 against Union College and Hobart College.