ITHACA, N.Y. – Five different players reached double digits in points and head coach Jim Mullins won his 300th career game as the Ithaca College men's basketball team came out on top of an 86-84 back-and-forth showdown with SUNY Cortland on Tuesday evening inside Ben Light Gymnasium. With the win, Ithaca improves to 2-1 on the season, while Cortland drops to 2-1.

Cortland jumped out to 17-6 lead just 6:34 into the contest, but Ithaca battled back to secure its first advantage of the game at 18-17 on a pair of free throws from sophomore Riley Thompson with 10 minutes to play in the opening half.

During the 12-0 run to put the Bombers on top, junior Miles Herman scored back-to-back buckets, while sophomore Sebastian Alderete nailed a 3-pointer and senior Marc Chasin tallied three points. After the Thompson free throws, Ithaca continued its run with a layup from senior Carroll Rich and two makes at the line from Alderete to increase Ithaca's lead to 22-17 with 8:49 to play.

Cortland answered with eight straight points over the next two minutes of play to regain a 25-22 lead, but the Bombers once again went on a quick run to go back ahead of the Red Dragons. Immediately after Cortland made the score 25-22, Chasin put in a layup and then junior Matt Flood followed with a 3-pointer with 5:27 to play. On Cortland's next trip up the floor, Ezema stepped in front of a pass and went coast-to-coast to throw down a transition dunk to give the Bombers a 29-25 advantage with 5:09 on the clock.

Nearly two minutes would elapse before either team could find the bottom of the net, which happened to be IC on another Chasin layup at the 3:19 mark to extend Ithaca's lead to 31-25.

After each team went 1-for-2 at the line, Flood drilled a 3-pointer with under a minute left to give Ithaca a nine-point edge at 35-26. The half closed with three made baskets over the final 14 seconds, including a buzzer-beater by Cortland to end the half at 37-31 in favor of Ithaca.

The Bombers quickly regained their nine-point edge as the second half began, 43-34, just 1:49 in on a three from Thompson, a layup from Ezema and a made free throw by Chasin.

Cortland cut its deficit back down to four within a 38-second span at 43-39, but IC answered with a 7-0 run to establish its first double-digit lead of the contest, 50-39, with 15:58 to play. Ezema started the run with a bucket and then Thompson followed with a 3-pointer. Rich capped off the run with a mid-range jumper.

Nearly four minutes later, the Bombers posted their largest lead of the evening at 13 points, 63-50, on a layup from senior Joey Flanagan.

Cortland battled all the way back to a 65-63 difference with 7:34 to go in the game, and the back-and-forth tussle was on from there.

Thompson hit a clutch three on Ithaca's next trip down the floor, but the Red Dragons would connect on back-to-back long distance shots to make the score 72-71 in favor of Ithaca at the 5:33 mark.

Cortland finished the evening with 16 made 3-pointers, including 11 in the second half.

With 2:48 remaining in the game, the Red Dragons went back in front, 76-75. Ezema put Ithaca back up on the ensuing possession with two of his 14 points on the evening, but another 3-pointer from Cortland just 24 seconds later put Cortland back in the driver's seat at 79-77.

At the 1:45 mark, Flood converted a three-point play on a layup, and-one, to give Ithaca another lead at 80-79. Not to be outdone, however, the Red Dragons came right back down the floor and connected on another shot from beyond the arc for an 82-80 Cortland lead.

Not even 20 seconds later, Thompson pulled up from close to 25 feet and sunk a three to vault the Bombers back up by one at 83-82.

That's where the Bomber defense hunkered down, as Flood made a hustle block on the ensuing Cortland possession, which turned into a made free throw by Chasin to give Ithaca a two-point edge at 84-82 with 28 seconds remaining.

A layup from the Red Dragons tied the game at 84-84, but Alderete would be fouled and he came up clutch with two makes at the line.

With 11 seconds on the clock, Cortland had one final possession to tie or win the game. As the clock ticked down to five seconds, James Morales drove to the hoop, but Chasin sent away his layup attempt, and a last-second shot for Cortland was off target to give the Bombers an 86-84 victory.

Chasin finished the game with 11 points, while Thompson also led Ithaca with 14 points on 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Emeza just missed out on a double-double with nine boards to compliment his 14 points and four steals. Herman did notch a double-double, however, with 13 points and 11 rebounds and two blocks.

Flood chipped in 12 points, while Alderete added nine points and six rebounds. Rich contributed six points, five assists and four rebounds. Flanagan tallied four points in the win.

Ithaca shot 50.8-percent in the game (33-for-65) and went 9-for-18 from 3-point range. The Bombers were also 11-for-15 at the line and outrebounded Cortland, 44-39. IC also dished out 18 assists on the evening.

The Bombers are back in action this weekend, as they travel to Vassar College on December 1 for an 8 p.m. contest and then play at Bard the following afternoon at 4 p.m. for a pair of Liberty League games.