SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team hit the road to take on Western New England University on Saturday and came up on the short end of a 77-60 decision. Ithaca is now 1-3 on the season with four games remaining on its schedule before the New Year.

The game opened with an Ithaca possession, but it was the Golden Bears who struck first, jumping out to a 4–0 lead and forcing the Bombers into an early timeout. Out of the break, Evan Cabral immediately attacked the lane for Ithaca's first points, then followed it with a three-pointer to give the Bombers their first lead at 5–4.

Matthew Zenker kept the momentum steady with a big three at the 15:21 mark to tie the score at 8. Moments later, a sharp defensive read from Cabral resulted in a steal and an easy layup to put Ithaca back in control. With 12:40 left in the half, Nick Lemmond connected with Lawrence Brady on a three-pointer that extended the Bombers' lead to 15–10. Jaylon O'Neal added another triple off a pass from Cabral, as the Bombers lead 18–14 with 11:16 remaining.

After a four-minute scoring drought, Ithaca broke through when Lemmond scored to pull the Bombers within 23–25 at the 5:23 mark. WNE responded with an 8–3 run, creating a six-point lead with 4:23 to go. Cabral then found Thomas McKiernan for a corner three that trimmed the deficit to 32–27 with 3:05 remaining. McKiernan knocked down two free throws on the next possession, bringing Ithaca back within three.

With 1:12 left in the half, Cabral recorded his third steal of the game, leading to two made free throws that kept the Bombers within striking distance at 35–31. A clutch late three from Cole Wissink tightened the gap to three with 25 seconds remaining. The half concluded with another pair of free throws from McKiernan, sending Ithaca into the locker room trailing by just three, 39–36.

At the half, Cabral leads the Bombers across the board with three rebounds, three assists, three steals and nine points. McKiernan followed with seven points and one rebound. Both teams had 18 rebounds while the Bombers led 14-12 with points off the bench.

WNE opened the second half scoring with a free throw as Ithaca's O'Neal picked up his fourth foul. A Cabral layup ended the Bombers' drought, making it 38–42. Free throws from McKiernan and Zenker brought Ithaca to 41–49, and Zenker added two more to make it 47–54 with 11:43 left. Lemmond hit a three off a Cabral assist to keep the Bombers within eight. Cabral added two free throws and a layup, and Zenker scored off a pass from Chris Leysath to bring the score to 58–65 with 6:38 remaining. But WNE responded with back-to-back baskets to extend the lead to 74–58. The Bombers' final points came from two Luberoff free throws as they fell 77–60.

At the end of the game Cabral still led the Bombers all around with 15 points, five steals, four assists, and three rebounds. Leysath led the team in rebounds with six as well as three points of his own. Zenker contributed eleven points and two blocks of his own and McKiernan had eight points and two rebounds to end the night.

The Bombers host Rochester on December 2 at 7:30 p.m.