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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth's tenacious defense held off three scoring opportunities in the final five seconds to edge visiting Ithaca, 62-61, in a men's Empire 8 basketball game on Friday evening. In the victory, freshman Maurice Mills recorded his first-career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 5-5 in Empire 8 contests and 13-8 overall. The Bombers drop to 8-2 in conference games and 13-6 overall. Nazareth moved into sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings with Friday's victory as Utica lost to Stevens to fall to 5-6 in the E8. The top four teams qualify for the Empire 8 tournament, February 22-23.

Nazareth stretched its lead to 13 points 4:25 into the second half following a three-point basket by junior Jack Giles. The Golden Flyers maintained their lead throughout the period with timely baskets as Ithaca chipped away at its deficit.

With Nazareth clinging to a 62-60 lead, Ithaca had three chances to tie the score or take the lead in the final five seconds. Junior Brad Ford was whistled for a block as he tried to draw a charge on Frank Mitchell. Mitchell, a 70 percent free-throw shooter made the first free throw, then missed the second. Jordan Healey was credited with the offensive rebound. With just over a second remaining, Mills stole the ensuing inbounds pass from Ithaca, however, he was whistled for traveling with .3 seconds to play. The Bombers were able to get the ball inbounds but the Golden Flyers prevented Ithaca from getting a shot off as the ball was lobbed toward the Golden Flyers' basket.

Nazareth's second half lead was thanks to a 13-2 scoring run in the final 4:28 of the first half. Senior Tyshun Stephens ignited the run with a jumper, which was followed by layups by Giles, Stephens, and two layups by Mills. Mills' second layup came after he collected an offensive rebound. As the Bombers worked for a final shot of the period, junior Scott Hayford stole the ball from Sean Rossi who was driving in the paint. Hayford led Nazareth down court and spotted Stephens who connected on a three-point shot as the buzzer sounded to give the Golden Flyers a 36-26 lead at the break.

The opening of the first half featured eight lead changes as the teams traded baskets. Following Nazareth's run to close the first 20 minutes, the Golden Flyers maintained their lead for the remainder of the contest. Both teams connected on 42-44 percent of their first half shots. Nazareth was able to build its lead with a 22-13 advantage in total rebounds, including an 8-3 advantage on the offensive glass. Nazareth finished the game with a 40-34 edge in total rebounds. The Golden Flyers also connected on 7-8 free throws while the Bombers converted only 1-3 attempts.

In the second half, the Bombers' defense held Nazareth to 29 percent (8-28) shooting from the field while Ithaca shot 46 percent (12-26), which allowed the Bombers to climb back into the game. Timely shooting, however, allowed Nazareth to maintain its edge throughout the period.

Stephens tallied a team-high 17 points and seven assists. Following Mills' 16 points, Hayford and Giles finished with nine points and eight points, respectively. Junior Brad Ford and freshman Mitch Ford each chipped in five points. Senior Dan Waldbillig added a basket in the first half after battling for two offensive rebounds. In addition to the 11 rebounds by Mills, Ford added 10 boards, including eight in the second half.

Tom Sweeney amassed a game-high 21 points while Mitchell finished with 18 points for Ithaca. The second and third leading scorers, Andrei Oztemel and Travis Warech, did not play for the Bombers.

Nazareth travels to Alfred for another conference game on February 8th before returning to the Kidera Gymnasium to host St. John Fisher on February 12th.