Junior center Jeff Bostic probably doesn’t know Mike Williams ’72. At his current pace, however, Bostic is poised to become Ithaca’s first player to average more than 11 rebounds per game since the Bombers’ all-time rebounding leader accomplished the feat 37 years ago.

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Men’s & Women’s Basketball vs. SUNY-Oneonta, Feb. 5

The Bombers beat SUNY-Oneonta on Tuesday, 95–57.

Bostic, who is pulling down an average of 11.1 rebounds per contest, has helped increase the Blue and Gold’s team average to 41.8 boards per game, 6.1 rebounds higher than last year’s team.

Senior captain and center Louis Kail said Bostic’s intensity on the glass this season has been unmatched.

“Jeff’s been rebounding out of his mind,” Kail said. “[Head Coach Jim Mullins] has really instilled in his mind just how athletic he is and how mentally focused he is. Coach challenged him at the beginning of the year to have 10 rebounds a game, which hasn’t been done in something like 40 years.”

In last Tuesday’s 82–70 loss to the Rochester Institute of Technology, Bostic finished with 15 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. Bostic almost matched that total in Tuesday night’s 95–57 dismantling of SUNY-Oneonta, finishing with eight points and a game-high 18 rebounds.

The Bombers’ out-rebounded the Red Dragons 36–22 on the defensive glass, despite Oneonta’s six 6-foot-5-inch or taller players, and enabled them to run and get baskets in transition. The Blue and Gold were so successful on Tuesday night, they finished with 16 three-point field goals, a new school record.

Mullins said his team has displayed the necessary attitude of a solid rebounding squad.

“Rebounding is a state of mind,” Mullins said. “You have to have the mentality that you’re going to go after it. Bostic’s aggressiveness on the glass has gotten a little bit infectious [too].”

Case in point: Five other Bombers grabbed three or more rebounds in the win against Oneonta, led by sophomore forward Tom Brown’s eight rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.

“[Rebounding is] real important,” Bostic said. “It’s the key to us getting out on breaks. Our main focus has been to limit other teams’ offensive rebounds and for us to get the ball and go.”

And while the team as a whole has stepped up their rebounding prowess, the 6-foot-5-inch Bostic remains Ithaca’s beast in the middle.

“A lot of it has to do with Jeff personally,” junior guard Brendan Rogers said. “He’s been just unbelievable. We know if we get rebounds we can get out and run, and that’s what we want to do.”

The Bombers will need to continue crashing the boards when they play host to St. John Fisher College – and the Empire 8’s third-leading rebounder, senior forward Justin Beigel – at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Ben Light Gymnasium.