The Ithaca College men’s basketball team kept its momentum rolling with a hard-fought 63-60 victory over the Hobart College Statesmen, improving to 11-6 on the season. With five wins in their last six games, the Bombers are now just half a game out of first place in the Liberty League Championship Tournament standings, and the team has an all-time record of 25–7 at home versus the Statesmen.
Senior guard Logan Wendell led the game in scoring with 19 points, shooting a perfect 10-10 at the line despite tweaking his ankle in the first half. Versatile sophomore guard Evan Cabral poured in 12 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and five steals. Sophomore guard Jaylon O’Neal came up huge in the final minutes, scoring all 11 of his points in the second half, with six of them coming in the last five minutes of the game.
The Bombers led for 38 minutes of the game while getting beat on the offensive rebounds (13-5) and losing the turnover battle (14-8). There was nothing free about Hobart’s free throws as it started the game a measly 0-9. Hobart made the next nine of 13 to finish the night 12-22 from the stripe, which kept the visiting team within a redemptive margin.
You could not script a better start to the game for the Bombers, turning defense into offense and dominating the first eight minutes of the game as they jumped to a 17-0 lead. Wendell and Cabral came out of the gates firing, combining for 21 of the Bombers’ 34 first-half points.
Senior guard Aidan Rodgers would give Hobart their first points of the half at the 12:24 mark, ending the Bombers’ hottest start of the year. Rodgers’ jump shot then jump-started a 9-0 Statesmen run, cutting the lead to just single digits. Some sloppy play from the Bombers let Hobart right back into the game. After four possessions and four turnovers, their big lead shrunk to just six. Sophomore guard Yoav Regev brought their sloppiness to a halt, knocking down a corner three with 7:52 remaining.
Then came the Bombers’ drought. The Statesmen were able to outscore them 13-7 in a 7-minute span, cutting what once was a 17-point lead to just four points by halftime. O’Neal, first-year forward/guard Chris Leysath and senior guard Aidan Holmes all picked up three personal fouls in the first half, making head coach Waleed Farid go to his bench early.
The Bombers fed off the energy in the stands, playing with intensity on both ends of the floor. Their 3-2 zone smothered the Statesmen, forcing tough shots and limiting clean looks. Despite giving up seven offensive rebounds and nine more shot attempts, the Bombers’ efficiency was unstoppable. They shot a scorching 67% 64% from the field while locking in defensively to control the game.
The second half started fast. Both teams exchanged threes, Holmes drilled a pair of long twos and Cabral had his fourth steal of the game, which led to an and-one. Right when it looked like the Bombers might run away with it again, first-year forward Allen Mordi of Hobart sunk a three, reigniting the energy on the Statesmens’ bench.
Hobart then made two 3-pointers on its next two possessions, trimming the Bombers’ lead to just one. The score stood at a 49-48 standstill with just under seven minutes to go.
An O’Neal putback, a Hobart layup and a pair of Wendell free throws put the score at 53-50 with five minutes to go. The Statesmen cashed in on second-chance opportunities on back-to-back possessions, taking their first lead of the game 54-53 with 3:30 to play.
O’Neal converted an acrobatic putback and-one to give the South Hill squad exactly what it needed: energy and the lead. It was 56-54 for the Bombers with 2:20 left.
The two teams exchanged misses on the next few possessions. With about a minute to play, senior guard Pat Healy of Hobart came down, pulled up from two and missed long. Holmes put his body on the line and came up with a huge loose ball rebound.
The Bombers possessed the ball with 57 seconds to go. Farid drew up a fantastic inbound play that freed up space for O’Neal, who cashed in a huge layup. The South Hill squad was up 58-54 with 50 seconds to go.
From there, the game was in check. The Bombers sank all the free throws needed to hold onto this nail-biter and went on to win 63-60.
