BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College men's basketball team lost to Ithaca (N.Y.) College, 97-75, tonight (Saturday, November 29, 2008) in the first round of the Allegheny College Tournament in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

 

With its loss, B-W falls to 1-3 overall and  plays tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 30 against either the host Allegheny or Hilbert (N.Y.) College at 1:00 p.m. in the consolation game. With its win, Ithaca is now 5-0 overall.

 

B-W shot 43.1 percent (31-of-72) from the field, 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from three-point range, and 39.8 percent (7-of-18) from the free throw line.  Ithaca outrebounded B-W, 46-37.

 

The Bombers jumped out to a 7-2 lead at the 17:40 mark when sophomore guard Chris Cruz hit a three pointer. After junior guard Paul Glass (Medina/Senior) made a jumper at the 11:38 mark to make the score 16-11, Ithaca countered with a 9-0 run to make the score 25-11 with 8:55 remaining in the first half after senior guard Sean Leahy connected on a jumper.  Ithaca would extended its lead to as many as 19 points with three minutes remaining when freshman guard Jordan Marcus made a free throw to cap off a three point play, making the score 40-21.  Ithaca led at the half, 44-29.

 

In the second half, B-W cut the lead to 11 at 52-41 at the 14:34 mark with a layup by senior post Andrew Bene (Hinckley/Medina Highland).  Ithaca would reestablish control and open up a 21 point lead, when junior guard Tim Burton converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make the score 69-48 with 11:03 to play.  The Bombers would push forward in the late stages and extend its lead to as many as 28 before closing out the win, 97-75.

 

B-W was led by Bene with 18 points to go along with team-high seven rebounds.   Other scorers for the Yellow Jackets were sophomore guard Jake Cayton (Magnolia/Sandy Valley) with 10 points and six rebounds, senior guard Dennis Santiago (Brook Park/Midpark) with nine and junior guard Louis Tumblin (Elyria/Senior) with eight points and six rebounds.

 

Ithaca was led by Burton with a game-high 29 points.  Others in double figures for the Bombers included senior forward Brendan Rogers with 17 points along with a game-high nine assists, Leahy with 13, Marcus with 11, and Cruz with 10.  Senior center Jeff Bostic also contributed to the win with game-high 12 rebounds.

 

Following its game tomorrow, the Yellow Jackets are idle until Saturday, December 6 when they host Capital University in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for each team in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium of the Lou Higgins Recreation Center in Berea at 3:00 p.m. That game will be televised by SportsTime Ohio. The game will be shown on STO (www.sportstimeohio.com) at 8:00 p.m. on Dec. 6 and at 12:00 noon on both Sunday, Dec. 7 and Monday, Dec. 8.

 

Fans are reminded that they can listen to almost every B-W men's and women's basketball games LIVE on campus radio station WBW, 88.3 FM, and via the WBW Internet web site at www.wBW.com.

 

In addition to next Saturday's STO broadcast, two other B-W men's games will air on STO: the Jan. 17 home game versus Muskingum College at 3:00 p.m. and its February 18 contest at cross-town rival John Carroll University at 7:30 p.m.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact B-W Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, by FAX machine at 440-826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. To contact Head Coach Duane Sheldon, please call 440-826-2115 or e-mail at dsheldon@bw.edu. You can get all of the latest B-W athletics information by visiting our Web site at www.bw.edu/athletics.