POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team overcame four 10-point deficits in the first half, but was unable to repeat its resilience in the second half, as Clarkson University defeated the Bombers, 85-72, in Potsdam on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Ithaca is now 10-4 overall and 5-2 in the Liberty League, while Clarkson improves to 6-8 and 2-5.

Ithaca fell behind, 12-2, within the opening 3:11 of the game, and continued to trail up until senior Marc Chasin connected on a 3-pointer with 7:04 left in the half to give the Bombers a 24-23 advantage.

During the nine-minute stretch in which Ithaca trailed Clarkson, the Bombers were down by as many as 10 points four separate times.

Not even a minute after the Bombers took the lead, junior Matt Flood drilled one from long range to push the Bombers' lead to 27-23, which capped off a 14-0 run, but Clarkson answered with four straight to tie the contest at 27-27 with 4:52 on the clock.

After another deadlock at 29-29 at the 3:33 mark, the Golden Knights made back-to-back 3-pointers to go ahead by a 35-31 count with 2:19 remaining. Freshman Cooper Macklin closed the Bombers' deficit to one, 35-34, on the ensuing possession with a three, and then Chasin gave Ithaca a one-point lead, 36-35, with a pair of makes at the free throw line from the eventual halftime score.

Chasin tallied 11 points in the first half on 3-of-7 shooting, while sophomore Sebastian Alderete added eight points and three rebounds. Ezema chipped in six points and three boards over the opening 20 minutes.

Out of intermission, sophomore Riley Thompson made a 3-pointer on Ithaca's initial possession to give the Bombers a 39-35 advantage, but Clarkson would put together a 19-4 run over the next five minutes to go ahead by a 54-45 disparity.

The Clarkson lead ballooned to 59-47 with 12:26 to play in the contest, and the Bombers were only able to pull to within six points - 67-61 with 6:05 left - for the remainder of the league matchup.

Clarkson would outscore Ithaca, 50-36, in the second half and outshot the Bombers 15-for-29 to 15-for-39, and made 11 more free throws.

Overall, Clarkson made four more 3-pointers and 10 more attempts at the line to account for the 13-point victory.

Chasin paced Ithaca with 17 points at the conclusion of the game on 6-of-13 from the field, while Ezema also went 6-for-13 for 13 points with nine rebounds. Alderete tallied 10 points, while Thompson and senior Carroll Rich each chipped in eight points. Senior Joey Flanagan scored seven points off the bench.

Ithaca returns home next weekend for matchups against RPI on January 19 at 8 p.m. and Skidmore at 4 p.m. the following afternoon to wrap up the first half of the Bombers' Liberty League schedule.