Kaase connected on 11-of-14 shots from the floor and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds in 31 minutes of action to lead the Tigers to the 23-point victory. Kaase’s hot shooting sparked the Tiger team which nailed 64 percent (30-for-47) of its shots from the floor and 61 percent (11-for-18) from three-point range.
The game featured a back-and-forth battle for much of the first half, with Ithaca holding as much as a four-point lead (19-15) on a layup by Jonathan Wetstone with 11:21 to play in the stanza. The Tigers countered with seven three’s in the half as trifecta’s by Matt Green (Richmond, VA/Thomas Dale) and Mike Edwards (Richmond, VA/Steward School), along with a layup by Kaase helped the Tigers push the advantage to six, 29-23, while another three by Edwards and a Kevin Forrester (Wytheville, VA/George Wythe) layup helped H-SC to a ten-point lead, 36-26.
In the second half, the Tigers quickly ran out to a 15-point lead, 50-35, thanks to three layups by Kaase and a three-pointer by Forrester. Ithaca trimmed the Tiger lead to 12 (58-46) by the midway point of the half on a layup by Sean Stahn, but eight straight points from Tiger post players, six from Kaase and two from Aaron Lewek (Raleigh, NC/Leesville Road), pushed the H-SC advantage to 20, 66-46.
Kaase’s final bucket of the game gave the Tigers a 22-point lead, while Matt Guill’s (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) three pointer pushed the advantage to a game-high 25 points (80-55) with just under two minutes to play as the Tigers rolled to their first season-opening road win in over 15 years.
Mike Edwards scored 14 points to give the Tigers two players in double-figures, while Drew Prehmus (Atlanta, GA/Wesleyan) and Aaron Lewek each scored nine points. Edwards and Matt Green each recorded a game-high six assists for the Tigers, who tallied 22 assists compared to 17 turnovers. Meanwhile, H-SC held a 27-24 advantage on the boards and forced 19 Ithaca turnovers.
Jim Bellis led the Bombers with 19 points, while Jonathan Whetstone tallied 11 and Brian Andruskiewicz ten to give IC three players in double-figures in scoring. The Bombers shot just 39.6 percent (21-for-53) from the field and 32 percent (6-for-19) from beyond the arc while canning 11-of-14 (79%) from the charity stripe.
Hampden-Sydney returns to action Sunday at 1 pm as the Tigers take on Springfield College (Mass.) in Roanoke’s Bast Center in Salem, VA. The game will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.