| 2/17/2004 10:15:30 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT men's basketball team had to hold off a second half run by Nazareth but held on to defeat the Golden Flyers for the third time this season, 77-74. The win improves RIT to 15-8 overall and moves them into a tie for first place with St. John Fisher with a 10-2 conference record.

Nazareth held an early 9-4 lead as RIT came out cold shooting from the floor. Sean Murphy (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North) (Buffalo, NY) and Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) (Buffalo, NY) got RIT back in the game with two consecutive three-pointers, cutting the Golden Flyers lead to 11-10. RIT took their first lead of the game on a layup by Kyle Goff (Manassas, VA) with 13:25 to play and never looked back. Junior center Jesse Foote (Lockwood, N.Y./Spencer-Van Ettan) (Lockwood, NY) got into the act in the first half, giving RIT and eight point lead with his dunk. He also made his presence felt on the defensive end, swatting away a shot by Nazareth's Ryan Shipley. RIT led by as many as 14 points in the first half thanks to some timely shooting. Rich Orlicz made a three-pointer late in the half to cut RIT's lead to 38-27 heading into halftime.

RIT built their lead back to 14 points early in the second when Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) made one of his four three-point baskets, but the Tigers could not put Nazareth away as the Golden Flyers kept pecking away at RIT's lead. Justin Fladd got Nazareth to within seven points at 61-54, capping off a 10-4 run with 8:50 to play. A pair of free throws by Lawrence Maroney cut RIT's lead to four points with just over six minutes to play, setting up a fight to the finish. Sean Murphy (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North) answered right back for RIT with a three-pointer increasing the Tigers' lead to 68-61. After a Tim Slakas layup cut RIT's lead to 75-72 the Golden Flyers turned up the defensive pressure. With time running out on the shot clock Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) launched up a three-pointer that hit nothing but net giving RIT a 73-67 lead with 3:24 to play. Lawrence Maroney's two foul shots got the Gloden Flyers to within a point at 75-74 with 1:12 to play and on RIT's next possession Nazareth forced RIT into a turnover and had two chances to take the lead with less than a minute to play but RIT's defense held them and forced a turnover. John Johnson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier Central) (Hamburg, NY) spotted Kyle Goff streaking down the floor and hit him with a long pass that Goff dunked, sealing the win for RIT, 77-74.

Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) led RIT with 25 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. The junior forward also grabbed five rebounds and dished out seven assists. Kyle Goff added 15 points and had five rebounds, while Sean Murphy (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North) contributed 13 points before fouling out in the second half.

RIT will face St. John Fisher College on Friday evening in a batte for first place in the Empire 8. That game is at 8 p.m. at St. John Fisher.