ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team exploded for a 17-0 lead early in the first half and held on to defeat visiting Hobart College, 63-60, inside Ben Light Gymnasium on Friday evening in a Liberty League matchup. Ithaca is now 11-6 overall this season and 8-2 in the Liberty League.

The Bombers started off strong with the tipoff won by Chris Leysath and Evan Cabral starting the bomber scoring 22 seconds into the game by sinking both free throws. Cabral drew a foul on a reverse layup with an assist from Logan Wendell leading him to a 3-point play as the Bombers take a 15-0 lead. The Bombers began a 17-0 scoring run causing Hobart to use up two of their timeouts early in the first half.

Hobart broke IC's run and its scoreless stretch with 12:23 left in the half. Over the next four minutes, the Statesmen cut their deficit to 23-17, but a 3-pointer from Yoav Regev and a pair of free throws from Wendell reestablished an 11-point advantage at 28-17. The Bombers then got into some foul trouble late in the first half as Leysath, Aidan Holmes, and Jaylon O'Neal all picked up their third personal fouls.

The first half wrapped up with Hobart notching two foul shots with two seconds left on the clock allowing the Bombers to go into the locker room at halftime with a four-point lead (34-30). Point leaders for the Bombers included Wendell with 12 points and two assists, Cabral with nine points and two assists and Regev with eight points.

The Bombers also did a great job crashing the defensive boards leading, 16-6, at the half. The Statesmen started the game 0-for-9 at the free throw line but made their final four attempts. Hobart managed to get back into the contest by score 15 points off 12 IC turnovers.

Wendell opened the second half for Ithaca with a deep three. Following that, Holmes pushed the pace by sinking another three early in the second half to give the Bombers momentum.

Halfway through the second half the Bombers still led by five points with a 47-42 lead at the 10-minute mark. With a buzzer beater on the shot clock, Regev capitalized with a step back two which was swiftly responded to by Hobart's Justin Price on their next possession. O'Neal tipped in Alex Penders 3-point attempt for a collaborative two points for Ithaca. With 3:58 remaining in the game, the Bombers led by one point (53-52). Hobart's Pat Healy sunk a layup with 3:21 remaining in the game granting his team their first lead of the game (54-53). It was a defensive battle over the next six minutes as a total of 10 points were scored between teams and Hobart took its first lead of the contest at 54-53 with 3:22 left. O'Neal then converted a three-point play to put IC back ahead, 56-54, at the 2:27 mark and the Bombers never trailed again. Aidan Holmes secured a loose ball with 57 seconds left to lead Ithaca to one of their final offensive possessions for the night for the 63-60 final.

At the end of the game the point leaders for Ithaca were Wendell (19), Cabral (12), and O'Neal (11). Wendell went 10-for-10 at the free throw line and pulled down eight rebounds, while Cabral picked up a double-double with 11 boards, to go along with five steals.

The Bombers remain at home tomorrow at 4 p.m. against Union College.