ITHACA, N.Y. – Seniors Sebastian Alderete and Riley Thompson combined to score 49 points as the Ithaca College men's basketball team secured a dominant, 91-61, Liberty League victory over RIT on Tuesday night inside Ben Light Gymnasium. Ithaca is now 8-3 on the season and 4-1 in the Liberty League, while RIT falls to 4-8 and 1-4.

Alderete finished the evening with 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting for the floor, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 at the free throw line. He netted 20 points in the first half in 18 minutes on the court.

Thompson contributed 22 points on 6-of-14 overall. He also went 4-for-8 from distance and was 6-for-6 at the line. Fifteen of his points came in the first half.

Freshman Jack Stern narrowly missed his first career double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds in just 16 minutes of action. Senior Jake Mitchell also reached double figures with 10 points, to go along with five boards.

Sophomore Zach Warech and freshman Liam Spellman each pulled down nine rebounds each as Ithaca finished the game with 48 rebounds. Spellman also scored five points, to go along with two steals and two assists. Junior Cooper Macklin chipped in five points and four assists, while junior Lucas Joshi added six points.

Ithaca trailed early on, 5-2, but erased its deficit in less than a minute to take the lead for good at 6-5 on a Thompson floater in the lane. Thompson then hit three 3-pointers in less than two minutes to push IC's advantage out to 19-12 with 13:05 on the clock.

Alderete then stepped in and scored 12 of the Bombers' next 17 points to help IC build a 15-point cushion, 36-21, with 7:29 to go.

The Bombers continued to score at a torrid clip and took a 50-29 lead into halftime. IC shot 18-for-38 from field in the opening 20 minutes and held RIT to 11-for-36.

Within the initial 5:31 of the second half, the Bombers increased their lead to 30 points at 65-35 as Thompson and Mitchell connected on three 3-pointers.

RIT came back to within 23 points with just under nine minutes left in the game, but that was close as the Tigers could get. Ithaca's largest lead of the contest (32 points) came with 4:05 remaining on a layup by sophomore Tommy Carver.

IC finished the game with 21 assists on 32 made baskets, to go along with nine steals and six blocked shots. The Bombers also committed just eight turnovers.

Ithaca heads to the North Country this weekend, Jan. 17-18, for games at St. Lawrence and Clarkson.