UTICA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team hit the road for the final time this season when it traveled to Utica for a Tuesday evening tilt at the Clark Athletic Center against the Pioneers. Although the Bombers looked poised to secure their third Empire 8 road win of the season when sophomore Matt Flood scored a go-ahead layup with 12-seconds remaining, Utica had the final answer, with Ivan Iton scoring a put-back at the buzzer to lift the Pioneers to a 75-74 win. The heartbreaking defeat snapped Ithaca's two-game winning streak, dropping IC to 8-16 on the year.
 
The Bombers had three players score in double-figures, led by freshman guard Riley Thompson's team-high 18 points. The first-year sharp-shooter, who garnered Empire 8 Rookie of the Week honors this past week, went 7-of-12 from the field, which included a 3-for-6 mark from beyond the arc.
 
Flood finished with 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting, also going 3-of-6 from distance. Junior guard Joey Flanagan added 12 points in 22 minutes of action.
 
Junior guard Marc Chasin poured in nine points and dished out a team-high four assists. Freshman swing-man Sebastian Alderete scored four points and added a team-high 10 rebounds, while second-year big man Peter Ezema chipped in seven points and six rebounds.
 
The two sides were locked in a tight battle during the early portions of the contest, sitting in a 15-all tie with 11:45 left in the opening half. From that point, it was the Bombers who put together the first significant run of the contest. Over the ensuing six minutes, IC outscored Utica 18-2 to open up a 33-17 lead with 5:46 left in the half.
 
The scoring spurt started when Ezema nailed a layup. Flood followed with a pair of free throws, while Thompson knocked down one of his three first-half three pointers. After the Pioneers answered with a lay-in by Iton, Ithaca rattled off 11 straight points to open up the widest lead for either side in the game. Freshman Gabe Perez-Ronchetta scored a three-pointer, while Thompson added another triple during the spurt.
 
Unfortunately, IC cooled down after the red-hot stretch, allowing Utica to climb back into the game. The Pioneers scored a 7-0 run immediately following the IC stretch, while a three-point basket by Utica's Hunter Remley in the waning moments of the half cut the deficit to 42-35 at the half.
 
Ithaca held onto the tenuous advantage during the early portions of the second session, before Utica was able to claw back to level terms. A 9-0 run by the home side turned a 51-43 lead for the Bombers into their first deficit of the contest with 12:34 remaining. In particular, IC could not find an answer for Utica's Bennito Ayarza, who scored seven points during the run.
 
Both team's traded the lead deep into the contest with neither team gaining an edge by more than five points. With IC leading 72-67 with 3:41 left after an old-fashioned three-point play converted by Flood, the Pioneers turned to their big man in crunch time. Utica put together a 6-0 run, the final three points of which were scored by Iton, who finished with a game-high 21 points, to take a 73-72 lead with 30-seconds remaining.
 
Ithaca got a big defensive stop to get one final chance, which Flood converted to snatch back the narrow edge at 74-73 with just 12-seconds remaining. However, IC could not hold on in the final possession. Iton corralled an offensive rebound off of a missed layup by Miles McNeill and scored at the horn to make it 75-74 at the end of regulation.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Thursday, February 16, with the team's final home contest. The Bombers will host Houghton College in a doubleheader, with the men slated to tip-off against the Highlanders at 8:00 p.m.