Bombers’ Men’s Basketball Team Holds Off Surging RIT for 81-76 Victory
Rochester, N.Y. – The Ithaca men’s basketball team (15-4, 8-2 Empire 8) held off the surging Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers (8-10, 5-4 Empire 8) to win 81-76 on Saturday and remain atop the Empire 8 standings.
The Bombers outscored the Tigers by three in the first half and two in the second to edge by the host squad and win their second straight contest.
A trio of double-doubles came from the Bombers during the victory. Senior center Phil Barera (Belmont/Belmont, Mass.) tallied a game-high 21 points and pulled down 12 boards and classmate Chris Cruz-Rivas (West Genesee/Syracuse) notched 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds as the Bombers won their fourth game of their last five contests. Sophomore guard Sean Rossi (Sparta/Sparta, N.J.) added 13 points and 10 assists. Rossi broke the 400-assist platform with his performance and sits fourth all-time in program history with 404.
Sophomore forward Andrei Oztemel (Staples/Westport, Conn.) recorded 12 points on four three-pointers to put four Bombers in double-digits. Ithaca has placed four or more players in double figures 17 out of 19 games this season.
Shooting 53.7 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent from three-point land, Ithaca outrebounded the Tigers, 35-31, including a pair of key offensive boards by Cruz-Rivas that iced the game in the waning seconds of action.
The first half opened with six consecutive Ithaca points en route to taking a commanding 18-6 advantage at the 12-minute mark of the first frame. RIT rallied with a 20-10 run late in the half to bring the score to 41-38 at intermission.
Ithaca reclaimed its double-figure lead in the second stint, but the Tigers came alive late in the period to cut their deficit to three with one minute lingering in the game. Cruz-Rivas pulled down an offensive board and converted it to force a two-possession game with seconds left on the clock. That bucket would finalize all scoring at 81-76.
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