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TROY, N.Y. - Junior Tom Horvat scored 28 points on 10 of 16 shooting and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team used an 18-5 second half run to defeat Ithaca College, 83-76, in a Liberty League contest at East Campus Arena. The Engineers have now won five straight home games to improve to 12-9 overall and 7-7 in the conference. The Bombers lost for the fourth consecutive time to fall to 12-8 and 7-6.

Trailing by a point, 58-57, with 14 minutes to play, RPI rattled off 10 straight points and then countered a five-point Ithaca burst with eight in a row to take a 75-63 lead with six minutes remaining. The Bombers got to within six points twice after but could not get their deficit under two possessions.

Horvat, a guard, started the decisive stretch with a three-pointer, followed by a layup from Asa Barnhill, a pair of free throws from Andreas Kontopidis and a three-pointer from Bard Featherston. The triple by Featherston was one of four for the junior, who finished with 16 points in 15 minutes. 

Ithaca answered with five points on an and-one from Bryan Karl and a pair of free throws by Riley Thompson, but the next eight points were RPI's. Featherston hit another from distance, Horvat scored on a layup and Featherston struck again from behind the arc for the 12-point margin. Featherston went on to make 4 of 4 free throws with under a minute to play to help seal the victory. 

The Engineers made 29 of 61 (47.5%) shot from the field, including 54.5% (18 of 33) in the first half. Horvat was 3 of 7 from behind the arc and 5 of 6 from the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds and an assist in 25 minutes. Classmate Andreas Kontopidis scored 15 points with five rebounds and four assists and sophomore Mitchel Wayand had a dozen points on 4 of 6 shooting, all from three-point range. 

Thompson had team-high honors for the Bombers, scoring 20 points with 11 rebounds and three assists. Miles Herman had 14 points and six rebounds, Carroll Rich scored 13 points and Marc Chasin notched 11 with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Ithaca shot 47.0% (31 of 66) from the floor, though only 36.4% (12 of 33) in the second half.

The Bombers return home to play RIT on Friday at 8pm, while the Engineers return to action at Bard, also on Friday at 8pm.