Cortland, NY (Nov. 19, 2016) – A furious, second-half Panther rally forced Ithaca to the brink Saturday in the Cortaca Classic, but Bombers guard Marc Chasin delivered the game-saving winner in an exciting 95-93 finish.

Chasin scored a career-high 39 points and Ithaca (2-1) needed all of them, including his final basket in the closing seconds that helped the Bombers edge the Panthers (2-1). A day after Purchase stunned Cortland in the opening round, the Panthers rallied at Corey Gymnasium, coming from 14 down in the last six minutes.  

The guard's 39 points elevated him into elite company, as he became just the 22nd player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points.  Through three games this season, Chasin, who was named the Classic's Most Valuable Player, is averaging 29.3 points per game and has amassed 1,026 points through 52 career games.

It was a see-saw first half, as the lead changed hands nine times before the Bombers stole the momentum and closed out the opening stanza with a 15-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Chasin to hold a 47-40 edge at halftime.

In the second half, Ithaca stretched its lead to nine points just 90 seconds in with back-to-back layups from Gabe Perez-Ronchetta and Carroll Rich to hold a 51-42 lead, but the Panthers would hang around and eventually cut the lead to just two points after knocking down a contested 3-point field goal to make it 57-55 at 14:52.

Both teams continued to exchange baskets over the next several minutes until the Bombers built a 12-point lead, 76-64, with 9:35 left to play after scoring 12 of the game's next 14 points including eight from Riley Thompson.

With 6:35 still left to play, Ithaca held its largest lead of the game, 82-68, after Perez-Ronchetta buried a pair of free throws, but the Panthers would claw their way back into the game and eventually cut Ithaca's lead to just one point, 89-88, after a 20-7 run with 1:32 still showing on the game clock.

Chasin would stake his team to a three-point edge with :46 seconds remaining but Purchase took the ball the length of the court and knocked down a shot from behind the arc to knot things up at 93-93. The clutch hoop came courtesy of Givvion Jones (JR/Mount Vernon, NY).  

From there with the score tied and time winding down, Chasin hit the go-ahead layup to give Ithaca the 95-93 lead with 2.3 seconds left in the game. The Panthers had one final attempt, but the shot fell short, as the Bombers held on for their second straight win. 

Brian Berrios (JR/New York, NY) led the way offensively for Purchase, scoring 28 points. He also shared the team lead in assists with four. Deshawn Cann (SO/Queens, NY) followed with 22 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in another terrific all-around effort. Jones added 20 off the bench, including three 3-pointers.  Michael Soffer (SO/Agoura, CA) contributed nine points on three 3s.

Berrios, who had two standout games in back-to-back days, was named to the All-Classic team.

-Ithaca Sports Information Contributed to this report