| 3/1/2003 7:06:12 PM
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ROCHESTER, N.Y.—The Rochester Institute of Technology men’s basketball celebrated their 71-66 victory over Ithaca as well as the conclusion of their regular season. The Tigers await a bid to the ECAC Tournament that will be announced on Monday afternoon. Today provided the fans with many awards and honors as Head Coach Bob McVean recognized the four seniors for the dedication and accomplishments throughtout their careers. Senior Dan Cerro (Union Springs, N.Y.) was bestowed the prestigious honor of the Steven King Award. This honor is given out each year to the team member who best represents the memory of Steven King. King was a former men’s basketball and Traingle Fraternity member who passed away from an accident in 1982.
From the tip the Tigers ran a fast paced offense that allowed them to control the flow of the game. Shooting out to a 12-1 lead proved that RIT was ready to take the win. Ithaca was held to just one point for the first seven minutes of play until Tyler Schulz (Monroe, N.Y.) netted a jumper to spark the Bombers scoring. Still the Tigers would hold the commanding lead throughout most of the game and the first half. After a moment of confusion RIT settled back into their offense to close out the first half leading 39-30.
When the second half began Ithaca had been sent on a mission to conquer and destroy and they did just that. The Bomber offense was hot hitting shot after shot led by Schulz who closed out the night with a double double hitting 19 and grabbing 10 boards while teammate Jason Wallen (Auburn, N.H.) chipped in 14. However the Tigers were back on track and would not allow Ithaca to steal the win on their home court. The Tigers Second half scoring led by Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) (Buffalo, N.Y.) as he added eight points. John Johnson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier Central) (Hamburg, N.Y.) netted 12 while Sean Murphy (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North) (Buffalo, N.Y.) paced RIT for the night to contribute 14.
