CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team opened its 2023-24 season with a thrilling, 85-81, overtime victory at Cortland on November 9. The Bombers overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to force the extra session and outscored the Red Dragons, 12-8, in the additional five-minute period.
IC hit the first shot of the game as
Logan Wendell drilled a 3-pointer, but the Bombers would struggle over the opening 20 minutes and trailed Cortland 34-26. Cortland led by as many as 13 points in the first half and outrebounded the Bombers, 31-12, but committed 12 turnovers to Ithaca's three to keep the game close.
Ithaca flipped the script in the second half and chipped away at its deficit to eventually take a 73-72 lead in the final minute. Cortland went 1-for-2 at the line on its next possession and neither team could score after that to force overtime.
In the second half, both teams shot 50-percent from the field, but IC made five more shots than Cortland, including two additional attempts from beyond the arc. Ithaca was also plus-five in points off turnovers and plus-six in second chance points over the final 20 minutes.
Andrew Geschickter played a huge role in the second half comeback as he scored five straight points to turn a 67-62 deficit to a tie with 2:33 to go.
Aidan Holmes then gave the Bombers a 73-72 lead with 46 seconds to go before Cortland made a free throw to send the game to overtime.
Geschickter then hit two more 3-pointers in overtime and Wendell accounted for the remainder of IC's points to come away with the 85-81 win.
Wendell led Ithaca with 21 points on 7-of-19 shooting with five assists, while Geschicketer scored 15 points of 5-of-11 from the field. Holmes added 13 points, while
Triston Wennersten nearly tallied a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Evan Cabral also reached double digits with 10 in his collegiate debut.
IC would be outrebounded by 19 in the game, 50-31, but utilized 24 Red Dragon turnovers to account for 19 points.
The Bombers head to Hamilton College on November 14 for a 7:30 p.m. non-conference game.
