ITHACA, N.Y. - Following the Ithaca College men's basketball team's Liberty League quarterfinal win over St. Lawrence, 64-54, on Tuesday, February 25, the Bombers (21-5) will travel to Troy N.Y. to continue competing in the Liberty League Championship. Ithaca will play against the No. 2 Hobart Statesmen (21-4) at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 29 at ECAV Arena on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Should the Bombers emerge victorious on Saturday against the Statesmen, IC will advance to the Liberty League Championship game and face the winner of the RPI (22-3)-Union (16-9) on Sunday at 2 p.m. for an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.

GAME COVERAGE

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TUESDAY'S VICTORY: The Bombers advanced to the semifinals after beating St. Lawrence by a score of 64-54 on Tuesday. The Bombers were led by senior Sebastian Alderete, who scored 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, to go along with five assists and five rebounds.

Sophomore Skylar Sinon added 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field with four assists and one block. Junior Bryan Karl added nine points, shooting 3-for-9 from 3-point range, and five rebounds.

As a team, the Bombers shot 24-for-59 (40.7-percent) from the field and assisted on 16 makes.

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 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.

ITHACA VS. HOBART IN 2020: Ithaca and Hobart faced off twice during the regular season, with the Statesmen taking both contests. The first matchup on January 11 in Ithaca ended with a score of 74-65. The second matchup in Geneva on January 31 witnessed the Statesmen coming away with a 78-77 victory after converting a pair of free throws with less than a second left in the game.

Hobart is one of Ithaca's longest standing opponents, dating back to the program's inception. Since 1930, Ithaca owns an overall record of 52-35 against Hobart.

SCOUTING HOBART: After finishing the regular season with a 21-4 record, Hobart earned the second seed in the Liberty League Tournament. The Statesmen are averaging 71.8 points per game and allow 61.2 points per game. Hobart shoots 34.1-percent from 3-point range this season and are tops in the Liberty League in rebounding at 42.9 per game.

The Statesmen are led by Tucker Lescoe, who is scoring 13.7 points per game. Edens Fleurizard paces Hobart with 8.3 rebounds per game, while Dan Masino leads the team with 3.5 assists per contest.

THE MATCHUP: Ithaca has won nine straight games heading into Saturday's contest, while Hobart has prevailed in nine of its last 10 contests. The Bombers have not defeated Hobart since 2012-13, as the Statesmen currently own a seven-game winning streak.

Hobart ranks first nationally in field goal percentage defense (36.6), 3-point defense (27.0) and rebound margin (12.6).

Ithaca is fifth in 3-point defense (28.5), fifth in assist to turnover ratio (1.7), ninth in turnover margin (5.6), ninth in 3-pointers made (304) and 14th in scoring margin (14.4).

FINALS POTENTIAL: The winner of this matchup will advance to the Liberty League finals to play the winner of RPI and Union. The winner of the finals on Sunday at 2 p.m. will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championships, which begins on March 6-7. The NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championships Selection Show will be held on March 2 at 12:30 p.m.