AURORA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team improved its winning streak to five consecutive games with a 75-62 victory at Wells College on Tuesday evening in non-conference action. Ithaca, now 5-1, used a 19-0 run in the first half and built a 32-point early on in the second period to come with the 13-point win. Wells is now 1-5 on the year.
Wells led by a 5-2 score within the opening 2:23 of the contest (16:37), but the Bombers put together a 19-0 run over the next six minutes to build a 21-5 advantage. The Express ended IC's run with a layup at the 10:43 mark of the first stanza.
During the 19-0 spurt, junior
Matt Flood scored nine points, while freshman
Bryan Karl netted five.
After back-to-back buckets from the Express made the score 21-9 with just over eight minutes remaining, the Bombers quickly pushed the difference out to 20 points at 32-12 in the next three-minute stretch.
Sophomore
Riley Thompson scored seven straight points for IC in less than a minute, while junior
Peter Ezema and freshman
Cooper Macklin added the other four points.
Over the final 5:18 of the half, Wells cut its deficit down to 15 points at 35-20, but Ithaca closed things out with a 7-0 run to take a 42-20 lead into intermission. The Bombers' 22-point lead came on a buzzer-beating baseline jumper by Chasin off a rebound.
Thompson led the way during the first 20 minutes with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting with four rebounds, while Flood added nine. Chasin and Karl each tallied seven points and Chasin also dished out four assists. Ezema (four), senior
Carroll Rich (three) and freshman
Cooper Macklin (two) account for the rest of the first half offense.
Ithaca shot 44.7-percent in the first half on 17-for-38 from the field and out-rebounded Wells, 28-21. The Bombers also converted nine Express turnovers into 11 points.
The Bombers increased its 22-point halftime lead to 32 just 3:29 into the second half, 53-24, on four consecutive 3-pointers Macklin, Thompson, Flood and Chasin.
After another 32-point disparity, 60-28, with 14:12 to play in regulation, Wells battled all the way back to 11 points at 71-60 with just over two minutes to go.
The deficit was too much to overcome for the Express, however, as Ithaca closed out the victory with four made free throws to account for the final tally of 75-62.
Thompson paced Ithaca with 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting, while Flood finished with 15 points. Chasin added 14 points with five rebounds and five assists, while Ezema just missed out on his second-straight double-double with 10 rebounds and eight points.
The Bombers pulled down 16 offensive rebounds in the contest and received 16 points from their bench.
IC heads to No. 17 the University of Rochester next Tuesday, December 12, for a 7 p.m. tip-off before a two-week break. Ithaca will then travel to Florida for a pair of games on the 28th and 30th against Brooklyn and Hiram in Daytona.
