Tough Weekend for Bombers Basketball **UPDATED**

**UPDATE** The Men's team has been awarded an at-large bid and a first round bye in the tournament. They will play on Saturday, March 7th against the winner of DeSales/St. Joseph's (L.I.). Guess they only need five wins and not six to get the national championship. The women's team did not get into the tournament. However, they did get a spot in the ECAC Upstate NY Championship Tournament at SUNY Cobleskill. They received the #2 seed and will play #3 Potsdam Friday night. If they win, they face the winner of the St. John Fisher/SUNY Cobleskill game from Friday on Saturday afternoon.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!!

Ithaca Bombers Basketball Caps Off Great Regular Season

I decided today to focus more on colleges again and this time, I'm turning my attention to the place I call home for a good part of the year: Ithaca College. This winter has been one of the most memorable for the men's and women's basketball teams. Now with the regular season over, both teams are getting set for big playoff runs after a tremendously successful year.

The men have gotten the most attention, ranking 9th in the country as of today and likely on the way up to 7th or 6th after the final regular season poll is released tomorrow. Their record: 24-1 with their only loss being a very controversial one at RIT. A last second buzzer-beater was the only Bomber blemish, but replays clearly showed the ball did not leave the hand of Nate Korinchak before the buzzer sounded. Either way, Ithaca exacted revenge with a 101-74 blowout of RIT today to end the season.

The Bombers' run and gun offense, led by senior Sean Burton, the defending Empire 8 Player of the Year, has averaged 90 points a game and the team has an assist to turnover ratio of +1.5. Six players are averaging 10 or more points a game as well. There is no question the Bombers have been the best team in the East Region this year. They are hosting the conference tournament, likely the first round of the NCAA tourney as well, and could very well make it to the Division III Final Four this year.

As for the women, the Bombers shook off a rough start out of conference and have finished the year 17-8 overall and 13-3 in the Empire 8. The Bombers have done well against most of their conference foes, with St. John Fisher being the only team to beat them twice this year. The one problem: St. John Fisher is their first round opponent in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament.

Tracy Bradley and Katherine Bixby are both averaging close to 12 points a game and have had a lot of depth off the bench. Junior Jeanine Burke and sophomore Jordan Confessore along with freshmen Jessica Farley and Riley Dunn have filled in when needed and held down the fort when starters have run into foul trouble or injuries. The Bombers have the chance to reach the NCAA Tournament, as they've done several times under Head Coach Dan Raymond, but they'll need to at least get past the first round of the conference tournament.

Overall, Ithaca Bombers fans have to be happy with how their teams have played this year, especially the men's team. It has no doubt been one of the best winters for the Ithaca basketball teams. Fans are excited at how far these teams can go and at the chance to see a lot of playoff basketball at Ben Light Gymnasium. We'll see if Ithaca can make some noise during March Madness.