ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team opened Liberty League play on Friday evening inside Ben Light Gymnasium as the Bombers took on Vassar College and came away with an 88-65 victory as Logan Wendell scored 36 points in the win. IC is now 4-2 on the season and 1-0 in Liberty League play

It was a defensive battle early on as both teams came up empty until Vassar went 1-for-2 at the line with 18:37 left in the half. Jaylon O'Neal scored the game's first basket with just over 18 minutes to go, which gave IC a 2-1 lead.

IC's lead grew to 5-1 as Aidan Holmes made all three attempts at the line with 14:40 on the clock, which ended the scoring drought. Vassar made its first basket with 14:09 remaining in the half.

The Bombers pushed their lead to 13-3 as Wendell drilled a 3-pointer and then assisted on a layup by Cole Wissink and then Wendell hit another three-ball to mark the double-digit advantage with 12:47 on the clock.

Vassar went on a run from there and tied the game at 15-15 over the next five minutes. Wendell then made two shots at the line to put IC back ahead, 17-15, with 7:32 left in the half. After another tie at 17-17, Wendell drained nine straight points to push the Bombers' advantage out to 26-19 with 4:42 to play.

The Brewers ended IC's run with a 3-pointer on the next possession, but Wendell continued his hot first half with a three-point play on the next trip down the floor to make it 29-22. A 3-pointer and layup from Cole Wissink, along with a fastbreak layup from Jaylon O'Neal gave the Bombers a 14-point edge at 36-22 with just under three minutes remaining.

The half ended with the Bombers leading, 38-25. Wendell finished the first half with 20 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 8-of-9 at the line.

Less than a minute into the second half, IC built its largest lead (at that time) at 15 points, 40-25, on an Evan Cabral layup. Two minutes later, Cabral converted a three-point play and Chris Leysath went 1-for-2 at the line to make it 48-31.

With 15:17 left in the game, Wendell nailed a 3-pointer to extend the Bombers' lead to 18 points at 55-37. The Brewers battled back and closed the gap to eight points at 59-51 with 12:02 to go. A Wendell three on the next trip down the floor reestablished a double-digit lead at 62-51 and the Bombers called timeout.

The Bombers pulled away late in the contest and went up by 23 points at 84-61 with 2:45 on the clock. The final score would be 88-65.

Wendell finished the evening 10-of-16 from the field and 12-of-13 from the free throw line. Cabral added 10 points and nine rebounds, while Holmes chipped in 13 points. Wissink chipped in nine points and Leysath contributed seven points and nine rebounds. O'Neal finished the game with nine points.

Ithaca hosts Bard tomorrow at 4 p.m.