ONEONTA, NY - Ithaca placed five players in double figures to help take down Hartwick on Friday night, 91-69, at Lambros Arena. The loss for the Hawks is their third straight and drops them to fourth place in the Empire 8 standings.
Chris Ryder (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) contributed his second double-double in a row with team-highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) added 13 points and Mark Blazek (Erie, PA/Erie Cathedral Prep) netted 10.
Both teams traded baskets over the opening seven and a half minutes of the game before a Jordan Marcus three-pointer put IC up to stay, 14-13. The Hawks trailed 23-20 later in the half only to have the Bombers score the next 12 points in a three-minute span to take a 35-20 advantage.
Hartwick cut the lead to nine points twice in the final two and a half minutes of the opening session but two straight IC layups gave the visitors a 46-33 lead at the break.
The Bombers upped their lead in the second half thanks to a 12-2 spurt in the opening two and a half minutes to gain a 23-point lead, 58-35. Later in the half, Blazek, Martin McCann (Hopewell Junction, NY/Lourdes), and Ryder all hit three pointers to make it a 13-point game, 68-55, with under 10 minutes to play. A Marcus three-pointer, however, would trigger a quick 9-0 run for the Bombers and they led by at least 20 the rest of the contest.
The Bombers dominated inside outscoring the Hawks 54-24 in the paint. IC also outrebounded 'Wick 49-33 and scored 24 second-chance points on 17 offensive boards.
Ryder would make 7-of-14 shots on the night for the Hawks, who shot 40% as a team.
Phil Barera paced Ithaca with 17 points. Chris Cruz-Rivas added 11 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Marcus and Andrei Oztemel added 16 and 15 points respectively.
The Hawks still can clinch the #3 seed in next weekend's Empire 8 playoffs with a win tomorrow against Elmira. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. The Bombers will travel to Stevens with the conference regular season title and tournament's top seed on the line.
