ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Riley Thompson sank a three-pointer from the right corner with 1.8 seconds to play to snap a 68-all tie and carry visiting Ithaca College to a 71-68 victory over 15th-ranked University of Rochester at the Louis Alexander Palestra on Tuesday evening.
Thompson sank five three-pointers on the night in eight attempts and finished with 19 points to lead the Bombers. Marc Chasin scored 13 points. Matt Flood had nine, Peter Ezema and Sebastian Alderete scored eight apiece.
Ryan Clamage led Rochester with 20 points. Michael Mangan scored 12, and Patrick Benka had 11. Jacob Wittig had eight points.
The victory was Ithaca's sixth in a row since a loss to SUNY Cortland to open the season. IC is 6-1. Rochester is 8-2 and saw its six-game winning streak snapped.
With Ithaca protecting a two-point lead (66-64) in the last two minutes, Chasin stole the ball and drove for a layup to extend it to 68-64 with 1:13 left.
Clamage sank two free throws on the double penalty 10 seconds later (68-66). With less than 40 seconds to play, Thompson missed a three-pointer and Wittig rebounded for UR. He rushed the ball upcourt and Mangan drove the right baseline for a layup in traffic to tie the score at 68 with 25.2 seconds left.
After a timeout, Ithaca held the ball before getting it to Chasin at the left of the key. As the clock ticked down, he drove across the foul line, drawing defenders to him, and passed the ball to a wide-open Thompson in the right corner. His shot fell through cleanly.
Rochester tried to pass the ball over midcourt, but it was caught out of bounds with seven-tenths of a second left. Chasin threw it away, but Andrew Lundstrom's desperation throw from the backcourt hit the top of the backboard at the horn.
IC took advantage of Rochester's cold shooting in the first half (40%, 12-30, 2-10 outside the arc) and burst into a 19-10 lead with the game eight minutes old. Thompson and Flood sank two treys apiece in the opening burst.
Thompson's driving layup gave Ithaca its biggest lead at 31-20 with 6:15 to play. Rochester went on a 14-2 run over four minutes to pull ahead, 34-33. Clamage and Benka had five points each. Benka's trey from left of the key gave Rochester its first lead – 34-33 – since the opening minutes. Miles Herman put Ithaca back in front with a conventional three-point play, 36-34. Mangan's two free throws tied the score before Alderete hit IC's sixth three-pointer of the half. It was 39-38 at halftime.
Rochester's offense was quiet for the first five minutes of the second half. When Mangan finally hit an eight-footer in the lane, Ithaca led, 44-40. Herman made another three-point play to extend to 47-40 before Rochester scored six in a row: a trifecta from Clamage, a fast break layup by Benka, and one free throw by Jacob Urban.
IC nudged ahead and stayed there until Clamage tipped in a miss with 6:40 to go, evening the score at 55. Ithaca went back to its best offensive play – the three-point shot – with Cooper Macklin sinking a longball from right wing for a 58-55 lead. The Bombers stayed ahead until the frantic final minutes when Rochester got even at 68 before Thompson's fifth trey was the decider.