ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team found itself in a defensive battle against St. Lawrence University all evening in a Liberty League quarterfinal matchup inside Ben Light Gymnasium on Tuesday, but the Bombers managed to come away with a 64-54 victory to keep their season alive. Ithaca, which will meet Hobart in the semifinals, is now 21-5 on the season.

The Bombers took a 28-19 lead into halftime and increased their advantage to 36-24 by the 17:32 mark of the second half. From there, St. Lawrence climbed all the way back to tie the contest at 42-42 with 8:50 to play in regulation.

A 3-pointer from junior Cooper Macklin gave IC a 45-42 edge 23 seconds later, and then senior Sebastian Alderete scored on a jumper with 6:52 to go to make the score 47-42. Over the next 1:38, the Saints chipped away to a one-point spread at 49-48, but Ithaca outscored St. Lawrence, 15-6, for the rest of the contest to come away with the 64-54 win.

Over the final 5:14, sophomore Skylar Sinon netted seven of his 13 points, while Alderete put in six of his team-high 18 points. Sophomore Alex Barron also converted a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left as he finished the night with eight points and five rebounds.

Alderete added seven rebounds and five assists and went 8-for-14 from the field, while Sinon notched four rebounds and three assists.

In the first half, both teams played lockdown defense for the opening five minutes as IC and St. Lawrence played to a 5-5 draw. The league foes would then hold each other scoreless for four minutes until Barron put in a layup at the 11:38 mark.

With 4:48 remaining in the half, the Bombers mounted a 19-10 lead as Sinon scored four points and junior Bryan Karl hit a 3-pointer during the 12-5 spurt.

After a pair of made free throws by St. Lawrence made the score 19-12, IC rattled off seven straight behind a 3-pointer from Warech, a jumper by Alderete and a layup from senior Jake Mitchell to give the Bombers a 26-12 cushion with 2:54 left.

St. Lawrence ended the half on a 7-2 run to account for the 28-19 spread at intermission.

Ithaca shot 24-for-59 (40.7-percent) from the field and made seven 3-pointers. IC held St. Lawrence to 35.6% (21-for-59) overall and 6-for-26 (23.1%) from 3-point range. The Bombers outrebounded the Saints, 41-36, and dished out 16 assists.

The Bombers and Hobart will square off at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at RPI in the semifinal round. The winner of that contest will meet RPI or Union in the championship game for the Liberty League's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.