| 1/10/2004 6:00:31 PM
ROCHESTER, NY- The men's basketball team continued their winning ways tonight by defeating Empire 8 Conference foe Ithaca College, 70-67, at Clark Gymnasium.
RIT took control of the game early in the first half, but Ithaca battled out of the gates as well. With seven minutes expired, the score was knotted at just 9-9. Both teams played a very physical game in the paint and under the boards, and the Tigers were able to take a slight advantage midway through the half, 23-18. From that point, the Tigers were 3-for-5 shooting and 2-for-2 from the line, extending their lead to 30-19 with just over three minutes to play. Ithaca made four of five shots in the last three minutes to cut the Tigers' lead to 32-26, but RIT was able to hold on to that margin as the half ended. Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) (Buffalo, NY) led the Tigers with ten points in the first half.
In the second half, Ithaca continued to keep the score close through the opening minutes. The Tigers built up a ten-point lead at 9:40 in the half, but the Bombers refused to go away as they narrowed the margin to as litlle as three with three minutes to play. With RIT hanging on to a six-point lead, the Bombers hit three consecutive three pointers, courtesy of Jesse Roth and Brian Andruskiewicz to tie the game at 66 with 2:03 to play. Ithaca's Jim Bellis gave the Bombers the lead on a one-and-one, but a key layup by Kyle Goff and two crucial free throws by John Johnson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier Central) gave RIT a three-point lead with 22 seconds to play. The Bombers' Jesse Roth pulled up for a last-second three, but it bounced off the glass and the Tigers held on for the exciting win. RIT shot 50 percent from the floor and 46 percent from behind the arc, tallying 38 points in the second half. Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) led all scorers with 32 points on the night. John Johnson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier Central) (Hamburg, NY) recorded ten points, and Kyle Goff (Manassas, VA) and Sean Murphy (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North) (Buffalo, NY) both recorded 11 points. RIT improves to 6-4 on the season and 2-0 in the Empire 8 Conference. The Tigers will tip off again in the J.P. Morgan Chase Tournament, scheduled for January 14-17. Seedings and opponents will be determined before the tournament begins on the 14th.
