ITHACA, N.Y. – The Union College men's basketball team got off to a slow start and never fully recovered, falling to Ithaca College by an 87-58 score in Liberty League action on Saturday afternoon at Ben Light Gymnasium.
 
Senior Brian Noone paced Union (7-7, 4-4 Liberty League) with 14 points, followed by classmate Temi George with 11 points and five boards in just 15 minutes while battling foul trouble. Ithaca (10-5, 6-2 Liberty League) had five players in double figures, led by Jack Stern with 20 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Dutchmen struggled to find the hoop in the first half, hitting 7-of-29 shots (24.1 percent), including a 1-of-11 mark from long range. The two teams remained in range of each other for the first eight minutes before Ithaca sprinted out to a 16-0 run over nearly four minutes to take a 29-9 lead with 8:10 remaining.
 
Union played Ithaca better than even the rest of the frame and closed on a 9-3 run, led by four points from junior Willy Samsen, but the visitors still trailed by 17 (43-26) at the half.
 
The Dutchmen scored nine straight points to get within 10 at 58-48 on a layup by junior Mike Caporale with 12:45 left in the second stanza, but the visitors could get no closer. A 12-0 run by the home team soon after helped to seal the victory.
 
Union shot better in the second half, but still finished the game at 32.7 percent (18 of 55) from the field and 2-of-16 from long range, while Ithaca finished the afternoon shooting 44.4 percent (28 of 63) from the field. The teams combined for 64 trips to the charity stripe, with Union hitting 20-of-31 and Ithaca sinking 24-of-33.
 
The Dutchmen will return to action on Friday with a 7:30 p.m. matchup at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.