TROY, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team posted a 72-67 victory at No. 1 seed Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in the Liberty League championship game at ECAV Arena on Sunday. With the win, the Bombers earn an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Tournament.
The conference title is the first for Ithaca since the 2019-20 season, which also happened to take place at RPI and was an 80-69 overtime triumph. Ithaca also snapped a five-game losing streak to the Engineers and scored over 70 points against the defensive-oriented foe for the first time since January 29, 2022 (eight games).
At the conclusion of the contest, Logan Wendell was named the Liberty League Tournament's Most Outstanding Player as he scored 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range on Sunday. Wendell also pulled down two rebounds with two assists. In the 62-42 semifinal win over St. Lawrence, he scored 22 points with seven rebounds.
Ithaca came out on fire and quickly built an 11-0 lead over the opening 3:24 and then pushed that lead to 15, 19-4 with 14:05 remaining in the half. Evan Cabral scored eight points during that stretch, while Wendell drilled a pair of 3-pointers.
The Bombers continued to roll from there and went up by as many as 24 points in the half, 43-19, with just over three minutes left before intermission. Over that 11-minute stretch, the Bombers outscored RPI, 24-15. Wendell scored 11 more points and Cabral also added eight points, while Aidan Holmes drilled a three and Jaylon O'Neal made a layup.
A 3-pointer from Holmes at the 2:11 mark gave Ithaca its largest lead of the day at 46-21, and then RPI went on an 8-0 run to close the half with a 46-29 score. Ithaca shot 68.0-percent (17-for-25) in the half and was 9-for-12 (75%) from 3-point range.
The Engineers made things interesting in the second half and pulled to within an 11-point spread, 51-40, with 13:22 on the clock. Ithaca answered with an 11-0 run over the next two minutes, thanks to five points from Cabral, to go back up by 21 at the 11-minute mark, 61-40.
That run by the Bombers did not deter the Engineers and they once again fought back to a one-possession game at 66-62 with 2:32 left. Ithaca weathered the storm and went 6-for-8 at the free throw line down the stretch to secure the victory.
Cabral put together one of the best games of his career with a double-double on 24 points (8-for-17) and 11 rebounds, to go along with three steals. Holmes also reached double figures with 11 points, while O'Neal added nine points. Chris Leysath added five points.
The Bombers will find out who and where they will play next at 12 p.m. tomorrow as part of the NCAA Selection Show. NCAA First Round games will take place on Friday, March 7.