| 1/17/2003 11:27:52 PM
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ROCHESTER, N.Y.—Sean Murphy (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North)’s second half buckets were not enough to advance RIT to the championship game of the 37th Annual JPMorgan Chase Tournament. Jim Evans (Binghamton, N.Y.) led the Golden Flyers to the 88-85 victory with 26 points.
From the tip the Rochester Institute of Technology looked as if the pressure of the tournament was becoming a factor in their play. Nazareth took a quick 6-0 lead from three lay-ups by Jake Steck (Aurora, N.Y.) with in the first minute of play. Two minutes later co-captain Mike Stanton (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) put the Tigers on the board. The Golden Flyers would continue their dominance for the next eight minutes outscoring RIT 29-12. Missed Lay-ups and turnovers proved pushed the Tigers farther behind heading into the half giving Nazareth the 56-37 advantage.
The duo of Murphy and Stanton rallied the Tigers for a dramatic second half comeback. RIT’s flawless defense held Nazareth scoreless for the first six minutes of play cutting their deficit down to nine. Reggie Shore (Amityville, NY/Amityville) (Amityville, N.Y.) picked off the ball several times and headed down court for the easy bucket, however the 6-6 Golden Flyer, Lawrence Maroney Jr. (East Aurora, N.Y.) deflected each of Shore’s attempts. Still the Tigers battled bringing the game within three with less than two minutes remaining. Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) (Buffalo, N.Y.) grabbed the defensive rebound off a missed free throw and again the Tigers failed to convert on the coast-to-coast. Nazareth’s Fran Zablocki (Buffalo, N.Y.) not only turned the ball over but fouled Murphy sending him to the charity stripe for 1-1, the first is good, and the second giving Nazareth only the one point lead. Gary David (Rochester, N.Y.), one of the Flyers members in double digits, drove the lane sealing the victory for Nazareth. RIT made one last attempt with :05 seconds remaining to the contest giving Murphy the opportunity for the 3-pointer but Nazareth’s coverage prevented Murphy from getting the shot off before time expired.
Murphy led the Tigers with 24 points, 15 of which came from behind the arch. Teammates Stanton and Snyder closed out the night with 22 and 17 points, respectively.
RIT will face St. John Fisher for the third place match-up to conclude the JPMorgan Chase Tournament.
