Junior Chris Miner and first-year Brandon Arnold netted season-highs and the St. Lawrence University men's basketball team controlled the first half of play, but fell to Ithaca 91-82 in Liberty League action Saturday afternoon in Ithaca, New York.

Miner, who shot 8-for-10 from the field and 9-for-10 from the line, recorded 25 points and eight rebounds, while Arnold tallied 22 points and three assists for the Saints. Pierre Coffy and Ben Crawford rounded out the double-digit scorers with 16 and 10 points, respectively. Crawford also added a team-high 14 rebounds against the Bombers.

St. Lawrence combined to shoot 55.8 percent from the floor and 54.5 percent from the arc. Arnold shot 4-for-4, while Coffy went 2-for-3 from 3-point range.

Both teams battled for the lead through the first five minutes of play. Arnold gave the Saints a five-point advantage after landing back-to-back 3-pointers, which allowed the Scarlet and Brown maintain control for the remainder of the first half, battling against a high-scoring Ithaca offense.

St. Lawrence carried a 46-45 lead into the locker room, capitalizing on Bombers' fouls and shooting 8-for-10 from the free-throw line in the first half.

Ithaca kicked off the second half with a 7-2 run to take a six-point lead. Coffy shot 2-for-2 from the line to knot the game at 67 with 9:44 to play. Another quick run for the Bombers gave Ithaca a 75-67 lead just over a minute later. A layup from Sebastian Alderete gave Ithaca its first double-figure lead of the game.

The Saints cut the Bombers' lead to eight twice, with a 3-pointer from Coffy and a layup from Arnold, in the final two minutes but couldn't close the gap any further.

The Bomber's outscored the Saints by ten points in the second half to capture their second straight win.

Riley Thompson led Ithaca with 22 points, while Miles Herman added 19 points and six rebounds. Marc Chasin tallied 16 points and Matt Flood added 10, while the two combined for nine rebounds. Flood also led the team with three steals.

With the loss, the Saints fall to 5-17 on the season and 3-12 in conference play, while Ithaca improved to 14-9 and 9-7.

St. Lawrence will return to Burkman Gymnasium for a six-game stretch to close out the regular season, the Saints will host Clarkson on Tuesday, February 13th before hosting Rensselaer and Skidmore on Friday and Saturday.