ITHACA, N.Y. – Fresh off their first home conference playoff victory in school history, the Ithaca College men's basketball team will now hit the road for the remainder of the Liberty League Championship as IC will take on top-seeded Skidmore College (17-7) at 4:30 p.m. inside the Williamson Sports Center in Saratoga Springs on Saturday.
Ithaca (16-10) reached the semifinals after defeating RPI, 88-74, on Tuesday inside Ben Light Gymnasium. The winner of Saturday's semifinal will advance to the championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday against the victor of Hobart and St. Lawrence for an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.
GAME COVERAGE
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TUESDAY'S QUARTERFINAL VICTORY: Ithaca improved its record to 16-10 on Tuesday with the convincing 14-point win over the Engineers. After RPI scored the first basket of the game, the Bombers took the lead over for the remainder of the contest and led by as many as 17 points.
Junior
Sebastian Alderete led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-22 shooting. Alderete scored 16 of his points in the first half and started the game 5-of-6 from the field.
Seniors
Peter Ezema and
Matt Flood each tallied 16 points in the win. Ezema also pulled down seven rebounds and recorded two steals to surpass his own single-season school record with 70 on the year. Flood made all four of his shots from 3-point range and was 4-for-5 at the free throw line with three assists.
Junior
Riley Thompson added 12 points, five boards and three assists. Thompson went 6-for-6 at the line, all of which came over the final 31 seconds of the contest. Freshman
Skylar Sinon chipped in nine points, seven assists and four rebounds.
The Bombers went 31-for-61 (50.8%) from the floor and 10-of-21 (47.6%) from 3-point range in the game. IC also was 16-for-19 (84.2%) at the free throw line. In the first half, Ithaca shot 20-for-34 (58.3%) overall, 7-for-13 (58.3%) from distance and did not commit a turnover, which led to a 48-36 lead. On the defensive end in the opening 20 minutes, IC forced RPI into 10 turnovers and turned that into 15 points.
ITHACA VS. SKIDMORE IN 2019: The Bombers and Thoroughbreds split their season series this year. IC owns the all-time series, 10-9, dating back to 1986. In the first meeting this season, Skidmore topped the Bombers, 75-66, on Jan. 19 in Saratoga Springs. A few weeks later, Ithaca dismantled the Thoroughbreds, 94-62, inside Ben Light Gymnasium.
Since joining the Liberty League, IC is 2-3 against Skidmore. The Bombers have outscored the Thoroughbreds, 365-356 (73 to 71.2 PPG), in the contests.
SCOUTING SKIDMORE: The Thoroughbreds earned the right to host the postseason championship after posting a Liberty League mark of 15-3. Skidmore is 17-7 overall and has won five straight games since the 32-point loss to IC. Skidmore averages 72.5 points per game and allows 68.1, but despite the 4.4 points per game difference, only seven games this season have been decided by fewer than 10 points.
Skidmore possesses two of the top scoring threats in the Liberty League. Noah Meren leads the league with 21.1 points per game, while Edvinas Rupkus scores 16.8 points per outing. The duo also ranks within the top five field goal percentage.
Chase Ta is one of the top distributors in the Liberty League as he averages 4.7 assists per game.
POTENTIAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUPS: Should the Bombers advance past Saturday, they will take on the winner of No. 2 St. Lawrence and No. 3 Hobart. IC went 0-4 against St. Lawrence and Hobart, but two of those games came down to the final possession.
At Hobart on Jan. 5, IC lost to Hobart, 89-86, after leading by 11 points at halftime. Six days later, St. Lawrence mounted a 19-point comeback in Ben Light Gymnasium to earn a 72-71 victory after converting a four-point play with two seconds left in the game.
On Jan. 25, Hobart defeated IC, 92-81, and on Feb. 9, St. Lawrence topped the Bombers, 84-72.
