I return to focus on Ithaca Bombers basketball today after what was a disappointing weekend for both the men's and women's teams in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament. The men, who had lost just one game all season and had obviously earned the right to host the tournament, were upset by Nazareth 82-76 on Saturday. RIT ended up going on to win the conference title over Naz. The women beat St. John Fisher in the semifinals 73-59 but couldn't complete their championship run, losing to Stevens 59-57 in the finals.
The loss for the men was very unexpected. The Bombers had beaten Naz 122-90 and 113-86 this season but managed just 76 points as the Golden Flyers completely threw the Bombers off their game with a slow-paced offense. Nazareth would take the shot clock down under ten seconds every offensive possession, limiting the Bombers chances on offense. This worked well as IC shot just 16% from behind the arc. It was without a doubt the worst shooting display for Ithaca's men this season.
As for the women, an impressive win over St. John Fisher in the first game. They had lost two games to the Cardinals during the regular season, showing little to no life. On Friday, they played much better, and it showed. However, the Bombers fell behind early and struggled to rebound in their championship game loss on Saturday night. Ithaca kept it close, as was expected, but just couldn't seem to get over the hump. Both teams struggled shooting from downtown, and it came down to who could sustain a lead. Obviously, Stevens was victorious and deserved it.
For the men's team, they will still get into the NCAA Tournament and will likely be a #1 seed. No team in the East Region is anywhere close to the Bombers right now. d3hoops.com projects Ithaca to be the top seed in Bracket #2 and would face SUNYIT, who won the NEAC with a victory of Wells College today. Here are the men's projections for this year.
It originally didn't look like the women had a shot at making the NCAA's unless they won the E8 title and got the automatic bid. However, the Division 3 bubble this year seems to be very weak as d3hoops.com has projected the Bombers to sneak in with an at-large bid as the #5 seed in Bracket 2, facing Eastern Connecticut in the first round. It would be shocking if the Ithaca women got in, but at this point, the weak bracket is helping them out. Click here for a look at the women's projections. If they don't get in, they will almost certainly get an ECAC Tournament bid.
Should be interesting to see how far the men's team can go. They won 12 games and lost to RIT, won 12 more then lost to Nazareth. Now they only need 6 wins and they are National Champs. If they women do get in, they will have a long, tough road to the championship. While I doubt they will get past the first or second round, anything is possible during March Madness!!
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