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Men's Basketball Loses to Utica in Empire 8 Semifinals

Steve Jaynes - SID

Senior captain John Johnson had 11 points versus Utica on Saturday in the E8 semifinals.

| 2/28/2004 6:16:27 PM

Click For Boxscore

ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT (16-10) men's basketball team squandered a 10-point, second half lead, losing to Utica College (16-10) 67-53 in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Men's Basketball Tournament on Saturday afternoon at St. John Fisher College. RIT came into the tournament as the second seed, while Utica was the third seed.

RIT built a five point lead early in the first half when senior captain John Johnson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier Central) (Hamburg, NY) nailed a three-pointer, making it 7-2 RIT. The Pioneers answered with a 13-0 run to give them a 15-7 lead with 13:01 to play in the half. The Tigers answered back with nine straight points of their own, re-taking the lead on a layup by Jesse Foote (Lockwood, N.Y./Spencer-Van Ettan) (Lockwood, NY). RIT maintained their lead throughout the rest of the half, increasing it to eight points with 51 seconds to play on a layup by Johnson, giving the Tigers a 31-23 halftime lead.

RIT shot 37.9% from the floor in the first half on 11-of-29 shooting. The Tigers turned the ball over eight times and had three steals. Kyle Goff (Manassas, VA) and John Johnson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier Central) led RIT with seven points apiece. Goff and freshman Tim Bacon (Massena, NY/Massena) (Massena, NY) each had four rebounds.

The second half saw RIT increase their lead to 10 points. With 12:37 remaining Drew Martin (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta)'s (Oneonta, NY) layup gave the Tigers a 41-31 lead. Utica responded with an 11-0 run and took their first lead of the half on a pair of free throws by Brian Collier at the 8:47 mark. John Johnson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier Central)'s layup gave RIT a 45-44 lead but the Pioneers outscored RIT 23-8 the rest of the way, going onto the 67-53 win.

The Tigers went cold from the floor in the second half, shooting just 23.5%. The Tigers made 8-of-34 shots and were 0-15 from three-point land, while getting out rebounded 49-37. Goff and Johnson led RIT with 11 points apiece. Jesse Foote (Lockwood, N.Y./Spencer-Van Ettan) had eight points and a team-high seven rebounds.

The Tigers will wait and see where to go for the upcoming ECAC Tournament. Utica will face #1 St. John Fisher College on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.