ITHACA, N.Y. – The Union College men's basketball team continued to battle against the top teams in the Liberty League and led first-place Ithaca College by eight points at the half, but the visitors were outscored by 15 points in the second half as Ithaca escaped with an 80-73 victory in Liberty League action on Friday night at Ben Light Gymnasium.
 
Union (3-17, 2-11 Liberty League) was paced by senior Mike Manley, who netted 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting to jump Toby Lustig '64 into 24th place in career scoring at Union. Junior Edward Baptiste added 17 points and senior Brian Noone chipped in 12 points as well for the visitors.
 
Luka Radovich led Ithaca (13-6, 9-3 Liberty League) with a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds, while Logan Wendell poured in 20 points for the Bombers as well.
 
Union did all it could on the offensive side of the court on Friday, shooting 46.7 percent (28 of 60) from the field and 84.6 percent (11 of 13) from the line while limiting itself to just 12 turnovers. Ithaca shot 41.8 percent (23 of 55) from the field, but the Bombers had a massive edge at the charity stripe, getting to the line 33 times and making 27 (81.8 percent).
 
Union came out firing in the opening half, hitting 14-of-20 shots from inside the arc and finishing the frame at 55.2 percent (16 of 29) overall from the field. Ithaca, meanwhile, was limited to 10-of-28 shooting (35.7 percent) from the field and needed a 10-of-11 effort from the charity stripe to stay in the contest.
 
The visitors scored seven of the game's first 10 points to take an early lead, with Manley scoring four points and classmate Justin Regis adding a three-pointer. The Union lead was two at 15-13 before the Garnet rattled off a 12-3 run, led by eight points from Baptiste, to take a 27-16 lead at the midway point of the half. The Bombers could get no closer than five for the remainder of the half, and Manley put a nice cap on the period with a late three to put Union up 40-32 at the break.
 
Union maintained its lead for the first five minutes of the second stanza, but the Bombers went on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the second half at 50-49 with 14:04 left. The visitors got back on top with a bucket by junior Abood Abuissa on the next possession, and baskets by first-year Lemar Fulmore Jr. and Manley kept Union in front.
 
The teams continued to trade points for the next few minutes, with a Noone jumper tying the score at 63 and a Manley triple knotting the game at 66 with 6:33 on the clock. However, Union missed its next three shots and turned the ball over three times, allowing Radovich to score seven straight points as part of a 9-0 run that put the home team up 75-66 with 3:00 left.
 
The visitors nearly erased the deficit in 90 seconds, with two Baptiste free throws, a Manley layup, and a Baptiste three-point play suddenly cutting the lead to just two at 75-73 with 1:11 remaining. But the comeback came up just short, as Wendell hit a key layup with 45 ticks left and Union misfired on its last three possessions.
 
Union will return to action tomorrow with a 4 p.m. tipoff at Bard College.