University of Rochester men's basketball pulled away late to defeat Ithaca College, 76-64, in a hard-fought, non-conference contest on Wednesday evening inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.

With UR unable to find their range early, the Bombers surged out to an early lead. Luka Radovich scored a driving layup to break the seal and give Ithaca their first points of the game, while five-straight from Zach Warech gave the Bombers a 7-0 lead as Rochester started 0-for-2 from the field with a pair of turnovers.

Ryan Algier scored the Yellowjackets' first points off the game with 17:28 to play in the first, before a minute late, Ross Gang found the bottom to cut Ithaca's lead to just one possession.

With just 14 points combined over the first five minutes of play, both teams struggled to find their touch in the early going. Logan Wendell made it a 9-4 Ithaca lead with his layup with 15:41 left in the first before C.J. Amsellem connected on two free throws to again bring UR within a possession.

After nearly a three-minute scoreless stretch for both sides, T.C. Price brought UR within one on a driving layup, and after Jack Stern answered on the other end, Matt Wiele sank Rochester's first three-pointer of the evening to even the score at 11-all.

Noah Downing and Gang traded buckets to again even the score, this time at 13-13, while triples by Triston Wennersten and Andrew Jackson tied the two sides at 16-all with 10:42 to play.

But over the next 2:32, Rochester made their run, outscoring the Bombers, 8-0, to pull ahead by eight, 224-16 on a pair of free throws by Jackson.

Algier's alley-oop from Gang got the run going, as the graduate student scored four of his 18 points over the stretch.

Radovich, though, would slow the run with a layup, and Ithaca would double-up Rochester over the next 2:47, cutting the Yellowjackets' lead back down to four, 28-24, on another Wendell three-pointer with 4:40 left in the first.

However, the Yellowjackets would end the first half on a 10-0 run, taking a 38-24 lead into the locker room, and then kept things rolling to start the second half, opening their largest lead of the game, 42-29, on Gang's layup with 16:13 to play.

But the Bombers wouldn't go away quietly, as Ithaca held UR to just 1-for-4 from the field over the next three minutes, pulling within one on another Wendell three-pointer that capped off a 14-2 run Bomber run.

Again though, UR countered with a run of their own, kicked off by Logan Jagodzinski's dunk with 11:58 to play. The Yellowjackets would lead by as many as six, 53-47, with 9:43 remaining before Ithaca again made a run, and this time, tied the game.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Liam Spellman and Radovich leveled the score at 53-all with 8:20 to go, firing up the Ithaca bench.

Gang answered with a layup to put the 'Jackets back in front, and after another Ithaca turnover, Mitchell Kershner found Algier to make it a four-point lead.

Then after Radovich missed a three, Algier got the offensive rebound and made it a six-point lead, and then added another, again off Kershner's assist, on the ensuing possession.

Down by eight, 61-53, with 5:44 remaining, Spellman hit another triple to pull Ithaca within five, but that'd be as close as the Bombers would get the rest of the way.

Kershner's hook shot brought UR's lead out to seven, and Wiele went 1-for-2 at the line after another steal to again make it an eight-point game.

After Wennersten missed the front end of a one-and-one, Algier took it to the hoop to make it a 10-point lead, and Gang knocked down a free throw to bring UR's lead out to double digits, 67-56, with under four to play.

Down the stretch, the Yellowjackets would hit their free throws, Algier, Gang and Masino each hit two, and Wiele knocked down one, as UR would ice and eventually finish off the 76-64 victory.

The 'Jackets outscored Ithaca, 23-11 down the stretch after Radovich's three-pointer evened the score at 53-all with 8:20 to play.

Rochester moves to 8-1 with the win, winning their third straight, while Ithaca drops to 4-4 with the loss.

Gang led UR with 20 points, adding seven rebounds and four assists, while Algier notched his second double-double of the year, scoring 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Jackson added eight points off the bench, as the 'Jackets outscored the Bombers, 20-14 off the bench, and 48-28 in the paint.

As a team, UR shot 48.3 percent and held Ithaca to just 34.3 percent from the floor. The Yellowjackets also tallied 10 blocks, tied for the eighth-most in a game in program history.

UR will next wrap up their road, non-conference slate in Wooster, Ohio, battling The College of Wooster Fighting Scots on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 2:15 p.m.