Bombers Advance to Championship Game of Sponaugle Tournament
Lancaster, Pa. -- The Bombers' men's basketball team used 16 three-pointers and shot over 50 percent from the floor to help earn a spot in the championship game of the Sponaugle New Years Tournament with a 96-92 victory over Wesley on Sunday evening. Ithaca will face host No. 14 Franklin & Marshall on Monday at 8 p.m.
Placing four in double figures, the Bombers (8-2) tallied their sixth consecutive victory with the win. Junior guard Jordan Marcus (Solomon Schechter/West Orange, N.J.) led the team with 24 points and sophomore forward Andrei Oztemel (Staples/Westport, Conn.) contributed a season-best 21 as the pair combined for 13 of Ithaca’s 16 treys. Senior guard Chris Cruz-Rivas (West Genesee/Syracuse) added the other three from beyond the arc to help tally the second-most team three-pointers in program history. This is the second time this season Ithaca drained 16, as it matched the mark at St. Lawrence in December. The school-record 18 came over Alfred on Jan. 15, 2010.
Senior center Phil Barera (Belmont/Belmont, Mass.) was the fourth to reach double-digits with 18, while also recording game-highs of nine boards and four blocks. Barera set a new career-high with the four swats having tallied three blocks on three previous occasions. Sophomore guard Sean Rossi (Sparta/Sparta, N.J.) dished out a game-high nine assists for Ithaca.
The Bombers gained an early lead over Wesley (5-6), which they held for over seven minutes, but the Wolverines dwindled Ithaca’s seven-point advantage to take a 25-24 lead at 7:31. The teams went bucket-for-bucket until a Marcus three and ensuing foul shot at 4:29 secured the Bombers' lead for good.
Cruz-Rivas, who pulled down eight rebounds, helped the Bombers to a 10-point gap at the one-minute mark of the first frame on a 15-4 Ithaca run, but Wesley pulled back within six to close out the half, 46-40.
The Bombers twice led by as many as 15 in the second stint, but a 16-6 run over a four-minute span brought the Wolverines’ deficit to just one at 2:50. Ithaca looked to regain composure as it went on to notch five unanswered but Wesley was able to score on back-to-back possessions to bring the game within two with 36 seconds lingering on the clock.
Marcus, Barera and Cruz-Rivas combined for five from the charity stripe to reinstate a seven-point lead, but it was three free throws at the four-second mark from the Wolverines that finalized all scoring at 96-92.
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