ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team began its 2019-20 season on Friday evening at the Elmira Tip-Off Classic against Oswego and fell to the Lakers, 85-80. The Bombers trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half but managed to trim their deficit to four points late in the second half.

Senior Riley Thompson paced the IC offense with 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the floor, while senior Sebastian Alderete and sophomore Skylar Sinon each added 13 points on 6-of-12. Junior Bryan Karl also reached double digits with 11 points, including 3-for-7 from 3-point range.

Alderete and Sinon also ripped down six rebounds apiece, and Sinon dished out five assists.

The Bombers made 52.4-percent of their field goal attempts (33-for-63), while Oswego shot 34-for-69 (49.3%). Neither team had an efficient night at the free throw line as IC was 6-for-12 and Oswego went 8-for-17, but the Lakers held a 45-to-31 edge in rebounds, including 13 on the offensive end.

Oswego jumped out to a 14-5 lead within the opening five minutes and extended the difference to 29-12 with 11:57 left in the half. The Lakers would maintain their double-digit lead until Thompson hit a jumper in the paint with 29 seconds to go to make the score 45-36. Oswego would have the final say in the first half, however, as a 3-point capped things off to push the disparity back to 12 points, 48-36, heading into the break.

The Bombers opened the second half with a 5-2 to get back to within nine points, 50-41, but Oswego went back up by 13 points at 58-45 with 14:37 remaining in the game. By the 11:24 mark, Ithaca climbed back to within five points at 62-57 on a three-point play from Alderete, only to watch the Lakers go on an 8-1 run over the next four minutes to reestablish a 12-point cushion, 70-58.

From there, Oswego maintained a 6-to-12 point advantage until a Thompson 3-pointer made the score 84-80 with just 11 seconds left. Oswego went 1-for-2 at the line from there to account for the final tally.

The Bombers will play either Keystone or Elmira tomorrow at 2 p.m.