Ithaca's Sean Rossi Joins 1,000-Point Club
Tuesday, January 15
Elmira 72, Ithaca 66
Senior Sean Rossi became the 23rd player in program history to join the 1,000-point club as the Ithaca College men’s basketball team (9-4, 4-1 Empire 8) dropped a 72-66 decision to host Elmira (3-12, 1-4 Empire 8) Tuesday night, Jan. 15, at Speidel Gymnasium.
Rossi drained a game-high 21 points, highlighted by a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from three-point land through 22:30 of play. He finished the game 6-for-9 from beyond the arc.
Snapping Ithaca’s six-game winning streak, the victory was Elmira’s first in Empire 8 play. The Soaring Eagles shot 48.1 percent from the floor to the Bombers’ 39.0 percent. Ithaca held a 32-30 edge in rebounds.
EC got out to a quick 5-0 start behind a trey from
Neil Randolph '15 and a bucket inside from
David Borelli '15. Elmira extended its lead to as many as eight at 22-14 after a
Matt Newell '14 basket from downtown.
Over the next 8:30 the Bombers went on a 21-4 run backed by four triples from Sean Rossi. He went a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the opening stanza as Ithaca took a 36-32 advantage into intermission.
Ithaca led by as many as 11 points in the second half as they took a 50-39 lead with 13:24 remaining after two Tom Sweeney free throws. EC responded with an emphatic 8-0 run over the next three minutes that included five points from
Josh Keys '14 and a trey from
Randolph.
The Bombers regained a five point lead, but
Keys responded with another basket from long distance and classmate
Derrick Vogel '14 finished a pretty drive to the hoop to tie the game at 52 all at the 7:44 mark.
The contest would see three ties down the stretch with the final one coming at the 2:34 plateau at 61 apiece. Over the next two minutes the Purple and Gold went on an 8-0 run, which included a perfect 6-for-6 mark at the charity stripe.
Chris Cassidy '14 and
Vogel each contributed four points on the spurt. Sporting a 69-61 advantage with time winding down Elmira sank its free throws to prevail, 72-66.
Cassidy and
Randolph paced the Soaring Eagles with 16 points apiece, while
Keys added 14 in the scoring column.
Randolph shot 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-6 from long distance, while
Keys converted on four of his eight attempts from downtown.
Borelli tied a career high with eight points and notched five rebounds, while converting on all three of his shot attempts.
Vogel added nine points and six assists.
Nazareth 66, St. John Fisher 56
Senior
Tyshun Stephens scored a career-high 30 points to help lead visiting Nazareth to a 66-56 victory over St. John Fisher in a men's Empire 8 Conference basketball game on Tuesday evening. The Golden Flyers used a decisive 18-3 scoring run to reclaim their lead and pull away from the Cardinals. Nazareth's defense held Fisher to five points in the final five minutes of the game to secure the victory.
Trailing 48-42, Stephens ignited Nazareth's second half scoring run with a three-point play and a layup in a span of 40 seconds. Junior
Scott Hayfordadded two three-point baskets sandwiched around a jumper by Stephens to give the Golden Flyers the lead for good. Junior
Brad Ford chipped in a three-point basket with just under five minutes remaining in regulation to extend Nazareth's lead to 58-51. A minute later, Stephens capped the run with a two-point bucket.
The Golden Flyers converted 6 of 8 (75 percent) free throws in the final 77 seconds to secure the victory. Nazareth's defense forced Fisher into three turnovers and three missed shots to hold the Cardinals to two layups and a free throw in the final five minutes of regulation.
Stephens doubled his scoring average as he entered the contest averaging 15.1 points per game. Stephens finished the game shooting 56 percent (10-18) from the field, and he converted 8-9 free throw opportunities. Stephens also set up additional Nazareth scoring opportunities and finished with a game-high four assists. Brad Ford added 16 points, and Hayford chipped in eight points. Mills finished with five points. The Golden Flyers connected on 55 percent (11-20) of their three-point attempts.
Jason Norsen had a team-high 27 points for Fisher. Norsen scored 23 of his points in the second half. The Cardinals finished just eight percent (1-12) on their three-point attempts. Norsen entered the game as Fisher's leading scorer with just under 15 points per game. Thad Weir entered the game averaging 10.3 points per game and Nazareth held him to only four points.
The Golden Flyers finished with a 32-31 edge in total rebounds. For Nazareth, Mills had a team-high eight rebounds, followed by Brad Ford with seven rebounds. Norsen collected a team-high eight boards for Fisher.