CANTON, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team improved to 7-4 on the season and 3-1 in the Liberty League with a 56-40 defensive battle at St. Lawrence University on Friday evening in Burkman Gymnasium. IC has now won three straight games heading into tomorrow's matchup at Clarkson.
The Bombers held St. Lawrence to just 37.8-percent (17-for-45) in the game, which included a 6-for-24 second half. The Saints also did not make a 3-pointer in 10 attempts during the final 20 minutes of action. IC forced St. Lawrence into 17 turnovers, which led to 29 points, and the Bombers outrebounded SLU, 40-30.
The 40 points allowed by Ithaca are the fewest since the Bombers held Elmira College to 36 on January 22, 2008.
Jack Stern was the lone Bomber to reach double digits in the victory, as he tallied 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting with eight rebounds in 20 minutes of action off the bench.
Logan Wendell added seven points, while four other Bombers chipped in six points each –
Skylar Sinon,
Luka Radovich,
Liam Spellman and
Zach Warech. Sinon also pulled down seven rebounds with seven assists, while Warech had six rebounds. Spellman snatched five boards and Radovich pulled down four rebounds.
It was a tight first half throughout as neither team led by more than five points. St. Lawrence held the advantage for the opening five-plus minutes and went up by a 13-9 difference with 15:38 to play. Ithaca regained the lead at 14-13 as Spellman drilled a 3-pointer at the 14:03 mark, which it held onto for the next five minutes of action.
A layup from SLU with 9:01 remaining put the Saints back in front, 17-16, but it was short lived, as IC scored on its next possession with a layup from
Noah Downing. With 6:06 on the clock, the Saints went back ahead at 21-20, but IC took over the lead just under two minutes later on a Sinon layup and led until the final second as St. Lawrence tied the game at 25-25 heading into halftime.
After a 27-27 tie in the opening 18 seconds of the second half, it was all Bombers, as IC went on 12-2 run over the next eight minutes to build a 39-29 advantage. St. Lawrence would pull to within a six-point spread at 44-38 with 7:24 left but would then be held scoreless for the next four minutes. SLU connected on two free throws with 3:14 to go but never scored again as IC allowed just 15 second half points.
Ithaca plays at Clarkson at 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. The Bombers will return to South Hill on January 18 against RIT to kick off a four-game home stand.
