Box Score Box l Updated stats
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Visiting Ithaca held Nazareth to shooting around 30 percent from the field and the Bombers connected on 11-17 of their three-point attempts to outscore the Golden Flyers 81-59 in a men's Empire 8 contest on Friday evening. Senior Phil Scaffidi was Nazareth's leading scorer as he tallied 24 points.

Following the loss, the Golden Flyers fall to 14-7 overall and 7-3 in conference games. Ithaca improves to 9-12 overall and 6-4 in Empire 8 contests. The Bombers also defeated Nazareth in Ithaca, 70-63, on January 7th. With four conference games remaining in the regular season, the Golden Flyers currently stand in third place in the standings. Nazareth is one game behind league leading Hartwick and Stevens. The top four teams in the conference qualify for the conference tournament. The Golden Flyers host Utica in their next game on Saturday afternoon. Nazareth hosts Hartwick and Stevens in pivotal conference games on February 10th and 11th before finishing the conference schedule at St. John Fisher on February 18th.

Ithaca's Andrei Oztemel finished Friday's contest with a career-night as he finished 10-10 on his field goal attempts. Oztemel entered the game against Nazareth averaging 13.1 points per game. Oztemel finished 9-9 from the field, including 7-7 from beyond the three-point arc, in the first half to help the Bombers build a 42-26 lead at halftime. Oztemel had 25 first half points thanks to his torrid shooting.

Tom Sweeney also had a strong first period as he amassed 13 first-period points after coming into the game with an average of 4.1 ppg. Nazareth's defense held Frank Mitchell and Marcus Jordan scoreless through the first 20 minutes. Mitchell entered the game as Ithaca's leading scorer with an average of 17.7 ppg. Jordan entered the game averaging 12.2 ppg. The Bombers recorded 14 assists on 16 of their first half baskets. Sean Rossi amassed a game-high 17 assists in 35 minutes of action. For the game, Ithaca finished with 27 assists on 32 baskets.

The Golden Flyers' shooting was unusually cold as Nazareth finished the first half shooting just 8-32 (25 percent) from the field, including 3-16 (19 percent) on its three-point attempts. Scaffidi finished as Nazareth's leading scorer and amassed 14 points in the first 20 minutes to help the Golden Flyers stay in the game. Nazareth shot 9-24 (38 percent) from the field in the second half to settle for field goal percentage of just over 30 percent over the the course of the game.

Senior Jason Corletta converted a three-point play 15 seconds into the second half to cut Nazareth's deficit to 13 points. Ithaca answered with three free throws to maintain its lead. After trailing by 18 points, the Golden Flyers were able to trim their deficit to 12 points, 54-42, with about 13 minutes to play in regulation. Junior Tyshun Stephens and freshman Jamell Johnson each converted one of two free throw opportunities to start the run.  Johnson then collected an offensive rebound and converted the second chance opportunity before Scaffidi capped the run with a layup. Nazareth, however, was unable to overcome its shooting struggles to threaten the Bombers' lead.

Stephens and Corletta finished with nine points and seven points, respectively for Nazareth's offensive attack. Sophomore Brad Ford finished with a game-high 11 rebounds to provide the Golden Flyers with a 36-31 advantage on the glass.

Oztemel and Sweeney finished with 27 points apiece for the Bombers' offense. Ithaca connected on 64 percent (16-25) of its second half field goals to secure the victory. Sweeney was 12-16 from the field.