ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team avenged a 20-point loss to Hobart earlier this season by taking down the Statesmen on Tuesday evening inside Ben Light Gymnasium, 88-85. Ithaca is now 4-9 on the season and evens its Liberty League record to 3-3.

Hobart opened up the scoring for the game within its first offensive possession however Jaylon O'Neal quickly responded with a three-point play as the score ties at 3-3. Cole Wissink followed up with a layup as Matthew Zenker piled on with a layup of his own as the Bombers went up, 7-5, 2:09 into the game. Hobart then went on a six-point run as Nick Lemmond rattled in a 3-pointer off an assist from Laurence Brady to make the score 10-14 Hobart with 14 minutes remaining. Bomber efforts prove relentless as they try to stay with Hobart with layups coming from O'Neal and Zenker off an assist from Evan Cabral making the score 14-19 with 12:07 remaining.

Bombers' defense has been helping them stay in the game as Chris Leysath gets ICs fourth steal of the game. Wissink converted Leysath's steal into a three-pointer closing Hobart's lead to two. A layup from Luberoff and one from Yoav Regev continue to keep Ithaca within reach of the lead as they still sit at a two-point deficit, 23-25 with 8:23 remaining.

As Hobart tried to pull away late in the first half, Zenker drilled a 3-pointer to keep the Bombers within five points, 26-31 5:40 remaining. O'Neal tallied a layup with 4:25 remaining for his eighth point of the night. Leysath then connected from beyond the arc off an assist from Cabral with 2:27 remaining as the score deficit sits at four.

Two made free throws from Zenker brought the Bombers within two at, 39-41, and then Leysath wrapped up the half with another layup as the Bombers went into the locker room at halftime down by three, 41-44. 

At the half, the Bombers led 8-5 in offensive rebounds which Hobart has held the lead for 88.6% of the game thus far. Zenker leads the Bombers in scoring at the half with nine while O'Neal and Leysath follow close behind with eight apiece. 

The second half opened with an impressive reverse layup from Cabral as the Statesmen still led by one. O'Neal gave the Bombers their first lead since 7-5 as he made a layup to go up, 45-44. The game went back-and-forth over the next few possessions until Hobart built a six-point lead, 62-56, with 11:38 to play.

IC answered with a 10-3 runs over the next two minutes to regain the lead at 66-65 as Regev accounted for five straight points on a 3-point and put back layup.

It was a tight battle over the next four minutes as the Bombers maintained the lead, but never by more than four, but Hobart went back up, 74-73, with just over five minutes to go.

An offensive rebound and a put back for Regev put the Bombers back on top by one with 5:02 remaining, 75-74, and then a quick eight points from O'Neal on a layup and threes from Cabral and Wissink gave the Bombers a six-point edge at 84-76 with 2:42 on the clock.

A big bucket from O'Neal kept the Bombers up by six, 86-80 with 41 seconds left, but Hobart made it a one-point game with 13 seconds to go. Foul shots from O'Neal put the game away as a final 3-point attempt from the Statesmen was off target.

The most notable effort from tonight's game came from O'Neal with 21 points, three steals, two blocks, two assists, and seven rebounds. Cabral contributed 16 points, five steals, five assists, and four rebounds. Luberoff also came up big with six rebounds and seven points, while Leysath tallied 11 points and five rebounds.

The IC bench also played a crucial role in the win, combining for 23 points. Regev contributed nine points and five rebounds, while Lemmond matched Luberoff with seven points.

Ithaca stays on South Hill this weekend for a 7:30 p.m. game against RPI on Friday and 4 p.m. vs. Bard on Saturday.