Box Score
Ithaca 89, Utica 71 - Men's Basketball Final

Utica, NY (1-8-13) – The Utica College men's basketball team lost to visiting Ithaca College Tuesday evening, 89-71, in Empire 8 Conference action at the Clark Athletic Center.  The Pioneers were led by seniors Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) and Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) who combined for 33 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

UC falls to 4-9 on the season while 2-3 in the E8 and returns to the court Friday when it travels to Houghton College for a 6 p.m. tip-off.  The Bombers move their season record to 9-3 including an undefeated mark of 5-0 in conference play and remain in first place.  Ithaca returns to action Saturday for a non-conference match against Hobart College.

The first ten minutes of play featured nine lead changes before UC opened up an 8-0 run to take a 21-16 lead at 10:31 off a Jeff Ward (Ossining, NY/Ossining High School) layup. Ward went off to start the game netting eight of the Pioneers first 21 points.  Utica would push to its biggest lead of the half, at 7:48, as Matt Baldwin (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) hit a 3-pointer to give UC a 34-24 cushion. The visitors would answer with an 18-13 run to close out the first half and trailed by by five, 47-42, headed into the locker room

IC continued its momentum into the second half and pushed back to within one point of the Pioneer lead, 52-51, at 17:04, off a layup from leading scorer Frank Mitchell.  The Bombers would eventually knot the score, 56-56, at 15:37 before opening up their biggest run of the game over the next five minutes.  The visitors used a 13-1 strut to take a commanding 69-57 lead at 11:48 and would end up skating to their five straight win as they remain undefeated an atop the Empire 8 standings.

IC shot 54.84% from the floor in the second half compared to Utica's dismal 30.77%.  The Bombers capitilized on UC turnovers converting 18 points on giveaways along with another 15 points on second chances.  Ithaca was almost perfect from the free throw line hitting 13-of-14 for 92.9% while the Pioneers converted 12-of-17 for an average 70.6%

Baldwin finished with 17 points to lead UC while Ward tallied 16 points and eight boards. Sophomore Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) came off the bench and added 13 points while junior Connor Maisch chipped in with 12 points of his own on 5-of-10 shooting. 

Ithaca's Mitchell and Travis Warech each totaled game-highs with 24 points while Eli Maravich added 13 in the win for the Bombers