ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team drilled 17 3-pointers en route to a 105-73 Empire 8 Conference victory over Houghton College on Thursday evening inside Ben Light Gymnasium. The 17 made 3-pointers are one shy of the school record as Ithaca closes out its 2016-17 with a 9-16 record and 5-11 mark in the Empire 8.

Sophomore Matt Flood got off to a hot shooting start as he went 3-for-3, two from distance, over the first four minutes to notch eight points and give Ithaca an 11-8 advantage at the 15:55 mark. Ithaca held onto its lead until a Houghton basket made the score 17-16 with 10:37 to play in the half.

Junior Joey Flanagan put the Bombers right back on top with a baseline jumper 11 seconds later, and then sophomore Adam Kleckner gave Ithaca a three-point edge a minute later, 20-17. Houghton knotted the game up at 20-20 on an and-one with 8:13 to go, and then the Highlanders would take the lead at 23-22 on a 3-pointer with 6:45 on the clock.

Jumpers from junior Marc Chasin and freshman Riley Thompson vaulted the Bombers back on top, 26-23, just 43 seconds later. Another three-ball from Houghton tied the contest up and a make at the line changed the lead again, 27-26.

Thompson scored the next five points to give Ithaca the advantage once more, 31-27, with 3:37 remaining. The Bombers held onto their cushion the rest of the half and went to the break with an eight-point disparity, 43-35.

There were nine lead changes in the first half as Ithaca shot 50.0-percent from the floor (17-for-34) and Houghton went 14-for-32 (43.8%).

Thompson scored 13 points over the opening 20 minutes, while Flood had 11. Both made three from behind the arc in the half.

It was all Bombers in the second half as the team scored 62 points, including 11 makes from 3-point range.

Flanagan had 13 of his 15 points in the half, while Thompson netted 10 more to total a game-high 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Flanagan went 5-for-8 in the game and 4-for-7 from distance. Thompson had five 3-pointers overall.

Junior Brendan Till tallied six points in six minutes, while classmate Tyler Lemza netted nine points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting performance, including a transition two-handed slam dunk. Flood finished the evening with 16 points and 4 made threes.

Junior Carroll Rich added eight points and four rebounds, while fellow junior Marc Chasin chipped in eight points. Sophomore Adam Kleckner recorded six points and four boards, and freshman Sebastian Alderete notched five rebounds, four points and two assists. Freshman Evan Schumer drilled a 3-pointer and sophomore Aidan Fite contributed four rebounds and two assists in the win. Freshman Josh Green had two points and two boards in seven minutes of action.

Ithaca assisted on 24 baskets in the victory as the team went 40-for-70 from the floor (57.1-percent). There were no lead changes in the second half.