The Ithaca College men’s basketball team won its first Liberty League contest 78–69 over the Vassar College Brewers. With the win, the Bombers advance to 3–1 overall and 1–0 in the conference. With the loss, the Brewers fall to 0–5 on the year and 0–1 in conference play.  

The Bombers had to battle all game long in Poughkeepsie, New York going down by as much as 15 points. At halftime however, the Bombers came back and went up 14 points. Senior captain and guard Carroll Rich spoke about the team’s attitude when battling back in games.

“One thing that’s been different from last year has our been our resiliency when games get tight and momentum start to swing,” Rich said. “When things don’t necessarily go our way, we’ve been finding ways to focus and execute on both ends of the floor down the stretch.”

The Blue and Gold owned the paint getting 40 of their 78 points in the key. Junior forward Peter Ezema had a season-high 20 points leading the Bombers in scoring on the day and he had six steals on the day. Junior forward Miles Herman continues to impress, following his double-double up with 14 points of his own.  

Prior to the season, the Bombers emphasized making an impact on the defensive end. That showed as they wound up forcing 17 turnovers on the night and getting 19 points off of those turnovers.

The Bombers’ next game will be at 4 p.m. Dec. 2 against Bard College in Annandale on Hudson, New York.