SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team had their biggest win of the season on Saturday afternoon as they took down Skidmore 96-70 in Saratoga Springs to improve to 1-1 in Liberty League play.

The team leaned on strong rebounding and three-point shooting in this win, out-rebounding Skidmore 51-22 and shooting 43.5% from three. Offensively, junior forward Matthew Zenker (23 points) and junior guard Evan Cabral (22 points) led the way. Junior big David Luberoff was the lead rebounder with 10, and sophomore forward Chris Leysath had one of his best games of the year with 14 points and nine boards. For Skidmore, freshman guard Jacob Gooden led with 18 points, while junior guard Nick Padilla added 15.

It was a tight one out of the gate, with both teams shooting the ball at a high clip. The sharp shooting was highlighted by Ithaca's Zenker and Skidmore's Charlie Fantom, who each knocked down a pair of shots beyond the arc.

With the game tied at 12 about five minutes in, the Bombers went on an 8-2 run, headlined by continued success from deep. Zenker and Alex Penders each cashed in for three to put Ithaca up 20-14 with 13 minutes remaining in the first half.

Despite the Thoroughbreds putting up a good fight throughout the half, Ithaca managed to hold onto their lead into the halftime break. A 6-0 run headlined by a Yoav Regev three-pointer and Jaylon O'Neal layup put the Bombers up nine.

While Skidmore kept up with Ithaca, they struggled to cut into that multi-possession lead. The full-court press defense began to click for Ithaca during this stretch, as they played more aggressive man-to-man and held Skidmore to just 14 points over the final 10 minutes of the half.

Ithaca led 42-34 at halftime, with Zenker and Cabral leading the way on offense. For Skidmore, Gooden stood out in the first half with 10 points coming exclusively on two-point shots.

Turnovers and fouls were a struggle for Ithaca in the second half, but their sharp shooting made up for it, sparking an early 10-2 run that put the Bombers up comfortably by double digits. 

Zenker and Cabral both continued to stand out, with Zenker hitting his fourth and fifth three-pointers, while Cabral's success came inside. There was a sequence of four unanswered points for Cabral in which he drove for the layup, stole back the ball, and scored on a second fast break layup. This sequence had the Bombers up by 20, and the double-digit lead continued to hold the rest the way.

While the pace slowed down the stretch, Ithaca continued to hit shots. Leysath reached double digits for the first time all season, Zenker continued to contribute offensively, and Cabral even hit his first three-pointer of the game. Ithaca held on for the victory without much of a struggle in the final minutes.

The Bombers improved to 2-5 on the season as they came up with a critical win to wrap their first weekend of Liberty League play. They'll be back in action Tuesday night in Geneva as they face Hobart.