ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Eli Maravich tipped in a missed shot just before the final buzzer to give Ithaca College a 70-68 victory over the University of Rochester in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs on Saturday night.

The Bombers improved to 21-8 overall and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. Rochester, ranked No. 18 in the Division III poll, finished its season at 22-5. Ithaca will play Middlebury College in the Sweet 16 on March 16 at a site and time to be announced by the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee on Sunday.

Those were the only two points of the game scored by Maravich. Tom Sweeney led the Bombers with 22 points. Travis Warech scored 17 and grabbed nine rebounds. Sean Rossi and Frank Mitchell scored 12 points apiece. Rossi added nine assists.

Tyler Seidman scored 17 points for Rochester. Nate Vernon and Rob Reid had 16 apiece. Tyler Sankes scored 14. Ithaca focused on stopping All-America guard John DiBartolomeo and it worked. He scored two points, both from the foul line. He was 0-8 from the floor, 0-5 outside the arc.

"He was in our crosshairs," Ithaca coach Jim Mullins said of DiBartolomeo. "We used a soft trap and tried to get the ball out of his hands.  We spent a lot of time working trying to shut him down." 

Maravich drew that assignment along with Jordan Healey. DiBartolomeo's points came with two minutes left in the first half. Kent Coyne stole the ball in the front court and pitched it ahead to DiBartolomeo. Referees ruled he was fouled intentionally by Sean Rossi  as he drove towards the basket. He sank both shots for a 42-35 lead. Sweeney scored four points in the last 95 seconds to get Ithaca within 42-39 at the break.

Sweeney opened the second half with seven straight points in 2:20 as Ithaca retook the lead, 46-42. Seidman answered with three three-pointers over the next 2:32 to put Rochester up, 51-46. 

The Bombers cut that eight point (58-50) deficit down to one, 59-58, on Mitchell's layup with 7:59 left.  Neither team could pull away. Over a four minute stretch late, the lead changed hands three times and was tied once. 

With the score tied at 66, Mitchell's layup put Ithaca ahead with 1:52 left. Reid sank both ends of a one-and-one to tie it at 68-all 19 seconds later. Warech missed a three-pointer with 1:05 left. Seidman missed a three-pointer for Rochester with 37 seconds left. Maravich rebounded and Ithaca called time with 29 seconds remaining. 

In the huddle, assistant coach Mike Burton told Maravich with a straight face: "If Travis misses, you tip it in."

Warech caught the ball on the left block with Coyne guarding him. "I thought Kent did a good job and forced him into a bad shot," said Rochester coach Luke Flockerzi. 

With the game clock ticking below three seconds, Warech shot. It was long, but Maravich was there, slipping inside a defender. "I went back to the up-and-under and put it up," he said. "It sat right up there for Eli." 

"The possession's not over until you secure the rebound," said Flockerzi. "They outplayed us on this night."