The Ithaca College men’s basketball team attempted to snap a three-game losing streak on Feb. 3, but fell short, losing to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 83–76. Now with four losses in a row, the Bombers are 12–8 on the season and 7–6 in the Liberty League Conference, while RPI improves to 12–9 and 7–7 in the conference.

It was a slow start for the Bombers as they went down 14–6 with 14:07 remaining in the first half. The college turned it around and took an 18–17 lead with 10:38 remaining. For the rest of the half, it was a back-and-forth affair that saw the South Hill squad trailing 46–45 heading into halftime.

Senior guard Carroll Rich led the way for the Bombers in the first half, who went 5-of-8 from the field while scoring 10 points. The college outshot RPI in the first half, going 57.6 percent from the field while RPI shot 54.5 percent. Also contributing was junior forward Miles Herman and senior guard Marc Chasin, who each had nine points.

In the second half, the Bombers led 58–57 with 14:00 remaining, but that would be the last lead the college had for the rest of the game. From the 13:35 mark to 9:29 remaining, the Engineers went on a 7–0 run. After the run, the South Hill squad struggled to get back in the game and would only pull within five points.

Sophomore guard Riley Thompson finished the game with a team-high of 20 points. The Bombers struggled beyond the arc, as they only shot 29.6 percent while going 8-of-27 from the field. Meanwhile, RPI thrived from three-point range, shooting 41.4 percent.The Blue and Gold and the Engineers both had 11 leads in the game, but the South Hill squad failed to regain a lead in the second half when they needed it most.

The Bombers are back in action against Rochester Institute of Technology at 8 p.m. Feb. 6 in Rochester, New York.