Ben Light Gymnasium played host to two basketball games in consecutive nights as the Ithaca College men’s basketball team defeated Union College 83–75 on Jan. 5 and then lost to Hobart College on Jan. 6 by a score of 91–81.  

In the first matchup, the Blue and Gold bounced back from the recent defeat at the Land of Magic Tournament. Leading the way for the Bombers was sophomore guard Riley Thompson who had 24 points on the night while shooting 7-of-11 from the field. Also contributing to the win was senior guard Marc Chasin who had 18 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

The South Hill squad came flying out of the gate by jumping out to an early 11–0 lead, and it did not look back as the college took a 41–33 lead into halftime. The Blue and Gold went 13-of-34 shooting in the first half, as the Dutchmen struggled, going 10-of-37 from the floor.

Chasin tallied 16 points in the second half and the Dutchmen slowly started to chip away at the Bombers’ 17-point lead at 70–53. The Dutchmen brought it back to 73–65 with 2:36 remaining, but six late points for the Bombers sealed the victory.

In the second Liberty League matchup, the South Hill squad fell to Hobart College. Freshman guard Cooper Macklin was the leading scorer for the Bombers, scoring 18 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Chasin had seven assists and two blocks which complimented his 13 points in the game.

The Bombers went 14-of-27 shooting in the first half with a 52 percent field goal percentage, but this was not enough as Hobart went 7-of-13 from the 3-point line, giving the Statesmen a 46–39 lead at halftime.

With 12:38 remaining in the game, the Blue and Gold tied the game at 60, but the Bombers would fail to get a lead for the rest of the game as the Statesmen pulled ahead to win the game by ten.

The South Hill squad will look to get another victory at 8 p.m. Jan. 9 when they host the Rochester Institute of Technology at Ben Light Gymnasium in another Liberty League matchup.