The men’s basketball team defeated non-conference rival SUNY-Cortland 62–53 Tuesday night in the Ben Light Gymnasium. The win marks Ithaca’s fourth in a row, and improves their record to 4–1 overall (2–0 in the Empire 8).

For the first time all season the Bombers failed to surpass 80 points on offense. Luckily, Ithaca’s defense came through with its best performance of the year, holding the Red Dragons to 35 percent shooting, including an impressive 23 percent in the second half.

The Blue and Gold entered halftime trailing 31–21, but junior point guard Sean Burton helped the Bombers out-score Cortland 41–22 in the second half and pick up the victory. Burton finished the contest with game highs in points (19) and assists (three), while sophomore forward Tom Brown tallied 13 points and six rebounds.

Junior forward Sean Leahy finished with 10 points, while junior center Jeff Bostic chipped four points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

The next game for the men’s basketball team will take place at 4 p.m. Sunday in Hoboken, N.J. against Stevens Institute of Technology.