The men’s basketball team fell to the College of Staten Island on Friday night in the first round of the Division III NCAA Tournament, 98-73. The game was played on the Dolphins’ home court in Staten Island, N.Y.
On Saturday, Staten Island advanced to the Sweet 16 by defeating Rhode Island, 77-67. They have not lost a game in 2012, winning 18 straight contests.
Junior guard Andrei Oztemel led the Blue and Gold with 21 points and snagged eight rebounds. He became the 22nd Ithaca player to eclipse the 1,000-point mark.
Senior guard Jordan Marcus closed out a productive career with a 17-point performance that included six rebounds. Marcus will graduate as the best three-point shooter in program history with 301 three-point field goals throughout his career.
Sophomore forward Frank Mitchell added 11 points for the South Hill squad. Junior point guard Sean Rossi had seven assists, which gave him 259 total dimes on the year. That total put him 10th all-time in Division III history for assists in a single season.
The biggest statistical difference in the game was three-point shooting. The Bombers hit just 27 percent of their long balls on 10 of 37 shooting compared to the Dolphins’ 52 percent mark from long range.
The Blue and Gold went just 65 percent from the charity stripe, while Staten Island only missed one free throw all game, going 16-17.
South Hill finishes the season with at 14—14 in a season that was highlighted by an Empire 8 Championship.
