ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team made its long-awaited 2019-20 Ben Light Gymnasium debut on Friday evening and did not disappoint the home faithful, as the Bombers took down defending Liberty League champion Skidmore College, 92-50. The 42-point triumph is the largest margin of victory for the Bomber program since IC defeated Alfred University, 104-51, in 2011. All 15 players scored for Ithaca on Friday night.

Skidmore held an early 3-2 lead over IC in the opening minute of the contest, but after a 3-pointer by senior Riley Thompson on the next trip down the floor, it was all Bombers from there.

Ithaca maintained a two-to-eight point lead for the next nine minutes until Thompson hit another 3-pointer with 8:17 left in the half to give the Bombers an 11-point cushion at 28-17. That long-ball capped off a 10-2 run for IC in just over a two-minute stretch.

The Thoroughbreds responded with a three-ball of their own 18 seconds later, but sophomore Skylar Sinon pulled up from beyond the arc on IC's next possession and put the Bombers back up by 11 points, 31-20, with 7:39 to go. IC would only increase its lead from there.

Ithaca went on to build a 54-25 advantage heading into intermission as the Bombers shot 20-for-34 overall (58.8-percent) from the field and 8-for-13 (61.5%) from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.

Thompson and senior Sebastian Alderete each had 14 points in the first half. Thompson went 6-for-9 shooting, while Alderete pulled down six rebounds.

Thompson finished the night with a team-high 20 points to go along with four rebounds. Alderete added two more points to his total in the second half.

In the second stanza, Thompson started things off with a pair of free throws to establish Ithaca's first 30-point disparity of the night, 56-25. After trading buckets on the next three possessions, Thompson put home a fast break layup with 16:53 on the clock to put Ithaca back ahead by 31 points, 61-30, and Skidmore was unable to ever trim its deficit to under 30 for the rest of the contest.

Sinon chipped in eight points and four rebounds on the night, while freshman Gabriel Khalife notched six points on a pair of 3-pointers. Juniors Bryan Karl and Cooper Macklin, and sophomores George Sikoryak III and Tommy Carver each added five points apiece.

Junior Lucas Joshi and sophomore Clay Medling contributed four points each, while senior Jake Mitchell, sophomores Zach Warech and Alex Barron, and freshman Liam Spellman all had three points. Freshman Jack Stern rounded out the scoring with two points for IC.

Ithaca made 13 3-pointers in the win and owned a 20-0 advantage in fast break points, as well as a 16-2 edge in points off turnovers.

The Bombers remain at home tomorrow afternoon for a 4 p.m. tip-off against Hobart College. The Statesmen are 10-1 on the season and 4-0 in the Liberty League after a 66-53 win at RIT this evening.