GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team earned its first victory of the early 2018-19 season as the Bombers took down Albright College, 80-78, with a second half comeback at the Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday afternoon. IC is now 1-1 on the season, while Albright drops to 1-3.

Junior Riley Thompson was named all-tournament team at the conclusion of the weekend as he averaged 25.5 points, including a game-high 26 (21 in the second half) against Albright this afternoon. Thompson went 9-for-20 from the field, including 4-for-9 from 3-point range in the Bombers' win.

The Bombers got off to a hot start early on, as they jumped out to a 11-4 lead over the initial 5:06. Alright scored the game's first basket just five seconds in, but senior Peter Ezema tied things up at 2-2 at the 18:19 mark. After a pair of free throws by the Lions, senior Jake Mitchell deadlocked the game again to spark a 9-0 run. Ezema scored five more points during the spurt and senior Matt Flood added a bucket.

Albright responded with five straight points over the next minute to pull to within two points at 11-9, but a 3-pointer from Thompson and basket from sophomore Bryan Karl pushed the Bombers' lead back out to seven at 16-9 with 13:12 to play in the half.

A scoring drought would ensue for more than two minutes until Karl connected from deep to give IC a double-digit lead, 19-9, with just under 11 minutes to go.

Albright got to within a point at 20-19 with 7:19 to play, but IC would once again distance itself with a 6-0 run behind four points from junior Sebastian Alderete and a lay-in by Thompson.

Now with 4:11 to go before intermission, the Lions went on a 9-2 run up until the 2:52 mark to tie things up at 28-28. Alderete puts the Bombers back up by two with a pair of makes at the line, but Albright closed out the half with six points to take a 34-30 edge to the break.

Out of intermission, Albright quickly went up by 10 points, 40-30-, within a 1:30 span. Alderete and Thompson brought IC back to within single digits over the next minute, but the Lions would take control for a three-minute stretch to push their lead to 14 points at 52-38 with 15:11 left in the contest.

By the 10:08 mark, Ithaca tied things up at 59-59 with a 21-7 run. Thompson tallied nine points during the run, all on 3-pointers, while Alderete had five and freshman George Sikoryak III netted four.

IC regained the lead, 61-59, with 8:55 left on a basket from Alderete, but it was short lived, as Albright tied it back up with a pair of makes at the line. Alright then went back ahead on a 3-pointer, but two free throws by Sikoryak and a jumper from Alderete vaulted the Bombers back on top, 65-64, with 7:05 to play.

The counterparts would then find themselves deadlocked at 68-68 and 70-70 by the 5:20 mark. Sikoryak gave the Bombers a 72-70 advantage with 4:32 to play and they would never look back from there. Thompson netted six points of the final 3:40.

Alderete finished the game with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Ezema also just missed out on a double-double with 11 points and nine boards. Thompson contributed seven rebounds to his 26 points.

Sikoryak added eight points, while Mitchell chipped in six rebounds and four points. Karl tallied five points, while Flood, sophomore Cooper Macklin and freshman Skylar Sinon all registered points.

Ithaca shot 28.9-percent in the first half (11-for-38) but bounced back with a 19-for-37 (51.4%) shooting display in the second stanza. IC also outrebounded Albright, 45-41.

The Bombers will make their home debut against Cortland at 7 p.m. on November 27.