ITHACA, N.Y. – Sophomore Jack Plesser scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Union College men's basketball team to its first win in Ithaca in 30 years with a huge 89-85 Liberty League victory over Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon at Ben Light Gymnasium.
 
The win, the first for Union (10-9, 6-6 Liberty League) in Ithaca since the 1994-95 season, is a big boost in the race for the postseason, as the Garnet Chargers move into a tie for fifth place with St. Lawrence University with six games remaining.
 
Plesser had an excellent game for the Garnet Chargers, hitting 11-of-14 shots from the field to lead all scorers and adding five rebounds, followed by classmate Matthew Garside with a career-high 21 points, helped by four three-pointers and a 5-of-6 effort from the line, to go with four caroms and four assists. Junior Christian Dufort (16 points) and sophomore Jaden Jauregui (12 points) both reached double figures and sophomore Tanner Tedesco chipped in nine points and eight assists as well.
 
Logan Wendell led four Bombers in double figures with 21 points and added a team-best seven assists for Ithaca (11-7, 8-3 Liberty League).
 
The teams traded the lead a dizzying 11 times over the first 11 minutes of the afternoon, as neither team could create any separation. But a pair of free throws by sophomore Brendan Reid put Union back on top and started an 11-2 stretch that was capped by a Tedesco jumper to put the visitors up 33-25 with 4:58 left. Back-to-back buckets by Plesser built up the largest lead of the half at 41-29 and the Garnet Chargers went into the break with a 41-31 edge.
 
Union shot 53.3 percent (16 of 40) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while holding Ithaca to 36.1 percent (13 of 36) shooting – including a 2-of-18 effort from long range – at the other end.
 
The Bombers started the second half with eight straight points to get back within one possession, but a Plesser bucket followed by a Garside three stemmed the tide. Ithaca got within two points again at the 14:24 mark, but Union responded in a big way with a 15-2 run to open up the largest advantage of the night at 65-50 with 11:27 on the clock. Dufort had eight points and Plesser added five during the run, which saw Union hit six straight field goals over the span of 160 seconds.
 
Union built the lead back up to 15 on two more occasions after that and kept Ithaca at a distance until the final minutes, when the Bombers suddenly came alive from long range in an attempt at a comeback. After Dufort hit a jumper with 2:36 left, Union turned the ball over on its next two possessions and an Evan Cabral three made it an 80-75 game entering the final minute, but Union held firm at the line to clinch the win. First-year Harrison Collins hit four clutch free throws to keep Union ahead by seven, and Garside sunk 5-of-6 in the final 22 seconds to finally reach the final buzzer.
 
Union went 11-for-15 from the line in the second half and finished the game 78.9 percent (15 of 19) from the stripe as well as 51.6 percent (32 of 62) from the field and 40.0 percent (10 of 25) from long range. Ithaca used 21 offensive rebounds to take 11 more shots than Union, but shot 41.4 percent (30 of 73) from the field.
 
After two weekends on the road, Union will return home to Viniar Athletic Center on Friday to begin a big conference weekend against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 7:30 p.m.