| 2/11/2006 7:23:22 PM

ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick College rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit to force overtime, but the RIT men's basketball team held off Hartwick in the extra frame to earn a 96-90 win over the Hawks.

RIT led 38-34 at the half and opened up the lead to as many as 18 points, 65-43, on a Brian Hill (Rochester, NY/Wheatland-Chili) (Rochester, NY/Wheatland-Chili) layup after outscoring the Hawks 25-11 over the first nine and a half minutes of the second half.

The Hawks forced six RIT turnovers in the next six and a half minutes, and Hartwick took a 77-76 lead on Alex Lanfear’s steal and lay up with 3:57 left in regulation.

The teams battled back and forth through the next four minutes. The Tigers grabbed an 86-84 lead after two free throws from center Tim Bacon (Massena, NY/Massena) (Massena, NY/Massena) with 1:18 left in regulation, but the Hawks tied the game when freshman forward Albe Hulick rebounded a missed shot and made the follow up lay up to tie the game at 86-all with 4.5 seconds to play.

In overtime, RIT took an early lead, when Tyler Springer (Endwell, NY/Maine-Endwell) (Endwell, NY/Maine Endwell) connected on a three-point try from the right wing on the first possession of overtime.

Hartwick tied the game at 90-all with 1:57 to play on a jump shot by freshman guard Jan Cocozziello .

RIT held the Hawks scoreless for the final two minutes. Hill’s layup wth 53 seconds left gave the Tigers a 92-90 lead, and Barrett Zeinfield (Tucson, AZ/Catalina Foothills) made four straight free throws to ice the win for the Tigers.

Hartwick was led by a career-high 34 points from Cocozziello, who scored 25 of his points in the second half and overtime. Freshman guard A.J. Beaulieu added a career-best 17 for Hartwick.

Bacon finished with career highs of 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Tigers, with Zeinfeld adding 21. Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) and Hill each had 16.  Hill's efoort was a career-high.

Colin Roy (Malta, NY/Ballston Spa) (Malta, NY/Malta) dished out seven assists for RIT.

RIT improves to 14-9, 8-4 in the E8, while Hartwick falls to 9-13 overall, 3-8 in the Empire 8.

Both teams shot well, as the Tigers shot 51 percent from the field and Hartwick 49 percent.  RIT out-rebounded the Hawks 44-28.

The Tigers are back in action on Friday, as they host Alfred University at 8 p.m.