Six in Double Figures Lead Bombers at St. John Fisher, 85-71
Pittsford, N.Y. – The Ithaca men’s basketball team (16-5, 9-3 Empire 8) had six in double figures for the second time this season as the Bombers cruised to an 85-71 victory over host St. John Fisher (12-11, 8-6 Empire 8) Friday night at Manning and Napier Varsity Gym.
Sophomore forward Andrei Oztemel (Staples/Westport, Conn.) led the Bombers with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Sean Rossi (Sparta/Sparta, N.J.) had 15 to go with nine assists, senior center Phil Barera (Belmont/Belmont, Mass.) tallied 14, and senior guard Chris Cruz-Rivas (West Genesee/Syracuse) 13 as Ithaca shot over 50 percent as a team for the 12th time this season.
Freshman guard Miles Grier (Druid Hills/Lilburn, Ga.) and junior guard Jordan Marcus (Solomon Schechter/West Orange, N.J.) chipped in 10 apiece for the Bombers.
The Cardinals took a brief lead on their opening possession, but Grier answered with a layup and free throw on consecutive trips to give the Bombers the lead for good in the game’s first minute.
A pair of 7-2 runs in the first half yielded nine-point leads for the Bombers, as Oztemel and Cruz-Rivas hit three-pointers to help Ithaca stay in front over the opening 20 minutes.
After taking a 44-36 lead into the intermission, Oztemel sparked a 13-3 charge over a 4:47 span that gave the Bombers a 64-46 cushion, their largest of the game, at the 11:59 mark.
The Cardinals rallied to score the next 11 unanswered, trimming the deficit to just seven, 66-59, with 8:35 left.
From there though, the Bombers held the Cardinals to just one field goal over 7:06 down the stretch while outscoring St. John Fisher 13-4 to take control.
Box Score