PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team started off the New Year with an impressive, 73-69, victory at Carnegie Mellon University on January 2. Ithaca, which is now 6-3 on the season, took down the Tartans (8-3) in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Carnegie Mellon entered the contest averaging over 83 points per game and was shooting over 40-percent from 3-point range. The Bombers held the Tartans to just 5-for-30 (16.7%) from beyond the arc.
Carnegie Mellon scored the game's opening four points before the Bombers got on the board on a mid-range hook shot by
Gavin Schauder with just over 17:30 remaining in the half.
Triston Wennersten then tied the game on a layup 30 seconds later.
The Tartans would go back up by four points at 8-4, but
Aidan Holmes drilled a 3-pointer to pull IC back to within a point with 16 minutes left. IC took its first lead, 9-8, on a layup from Wennersten with 15:25 to go. IC's lead was short-lived as CMU went on a 5-0 run over the next 1:23 to regain control at 13-9 to force a Bombers' timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Bombers connected on back-to-back 3-pointers from
Andrew Geschickter and
Logan Wendell to go back ahead, 15-13. IC then took a five-point lead with 11:21 to go as Geschickter hit another three to make it 20-15.
The game went back-and-forth for the next five minutes to a 28-28 deadlock, but the Bombers would go ahead by six points – their largest lead of the half – at 34-28 on threes from
Bryce Bleibtrey and Wendell with 5:03 left.
IC would go cold over the next four minutes and CMU tied the game at 34-34, but Wennersten snapped the drought with a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left to make it 37-34. With 36 seconds left,
Evan Cabral went 1-for-2 at the line to extend IC's lead to 38-34, but the Tartans closed out the half with a layup with 18 ticks on the clock to make it 38-36 heading to intermission.
It was all Bombers in the early stages of the second half as IC opened with an 18-4 run over the first 5:35 to build a 56-40 advantage. Ithaca connected on four 3-pointers during the run.
Ithaca held its double-digit lead until there were six minutes left in the game as the Tartans hit a three to cut their deficit to 64-56. The difference would dwindle down to one point at 68-67 with 47 seconds to go, but IC prevailed by going 5-for-6 at the free throw line the rest of the way.
Wennersten led IC with 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting with seven rebounds, while Wendell finished with 18 points and seven boards. Geschickter chipped in 11 points in 20 minutes off the bench and Cabral added six points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Bombers will return to Ithaca this weekend for Liberty League matchups with Union on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Hobart on Saturday at 4 p.m.
