Balanced Scoring Boosts Ithaca Men's Basketball to Second Straight Victory
Behrend, Pa. -- All five starters scored in double-figures as the Ithaca men's basketball team (2-0) remained perfect on the season with a 72-68 win over Grove City (0-2) in the first round of the Penn State-Behrend Tip-Off Tournament Friday evening. Ithaca will face the winner of the second semifinal game between the host school, Behrend and Muskingum.
Ithaca led most of the second half, but Grove City took a one-point lead with less than 30 seconds remaining. The Bombers scored the game's final five points, with the big shot of the game coming from sophomore guard Sean Rossi (Sparta/Sparta, N.J.) who nailed a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the second half. Two free throws sealed the victory.
Junior guard Jordan Marcus (Soloman Schechter/West Orange, N.J.) led Ithaca with 17 points and made five 3-pointers in the game. Freshman guard Christian Jordan (Cherokee/Marlton, N.J.) scored 12 points and senior guard Chris Cruz-Rivas (West Genesee/Syracuse) added 11. Rossi and senior center Phil Barera (Belmont/Belmont, Mass.) each added 10 points. Barera was Ithaca's leading rebounder with seven boards.
The Bombers made 15 3-pointers in the game and held a 42-37 lead at halftime.
Ithaca's defense forced 18 turnovers by Grove City.
Grove City led from the outset of the game and built an 11-point lead with 6:36 remaining in the first half. Ithaca closed the first half on a 24-8 run to build its halftime advantage.
Box Score and Play-By-Play