ROCHESTER, NY – Ithaca erased a 15-point second half deficit to come back and defeated RIT, 87-82 in Empire 8 action on Saturday afternoon. The Bombers fell behind by 15 points early in the second but went on a 23-7, going on to the victory.

RIT’s Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) led RIT with a career-high 35 points. He shot 9 of 15 from the field, including 7 of 8 from the three-point line. Snyder was 10 of 11 from the free throw line, grabbed seven rebounds and had four steals. Snyder moves into seventh place all-time at RIT in points 1,225.

 

RIT led 52-40 at the half thanks in large part to 21 points from senior Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude). Snyder was 7 of 12 from the field and 5 of 6 from three point land. He grabbed three rebounds, had four steals and dished out an assist.

The Tigers trailed by six points early on but battled back and capped off a 15-10 run with a three pointer by Kris Kowalczyk (Albany, NY/Colonie) (Albany, NY/Colonie), giving the Tigers their first lead since early in the game.

RIT built their lead to 43-33 on a lay up by Drew Martin (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta).The Bombers got the lead down to five points but an 8-1 run by the Tigers to end the half gave RIT a 12-point lead at the break.

RIT shot 54.5% from the floor in the first half on 18-f-33 shooting. The Tigers were 7 of 11 from three point land and 9 of 14 from the charity stripe. Tim Bacon (Massena, NY/Massena) had 10 points and six rebounds to go along with Snyder’s 21.

Ithaca shot 53.3% from the floor on 16-of-30 from the floor. The Bombers made 2 of 9 from three point land and were 6 of 8 from the foul line. Jim Bellis led Ithaca with 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting. He also grabbed five rebounds.

RIT came out and expanded their lead to 15 points on a three-pointer by Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude), making it 60-45.

Over the next 7:22 Ithaca would outscore the Tigers 23-7, taking a 68-67 lead on a three-pointer by Jim Bellis with 10 minutes remaining. RIT’s shooting fell off dramatically in the second half as the Tigers shot 27.3% from the field.

Despite their shooting woes, RIT was able to regain a slight edge when Barrett Zeinfeld (Tuscon, AZ/Catalina Foothills)’s (Tucson, AZ/Catalina Foothills) jump shot gave RIT a 74-70 lead.

RIT held onto the lead until a pair of free throws by Jim Bellis gave Ithaca a 79-78 lead with 1:39 remaining.

Barret Zeinfeld made one of two free throws, tying the score at 79-79 with just over a minute to play.

On Ithaca’s next possession Brian Andruskiewicz hit a jump shot from the baseline to give the Bombers an 81-79 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.

 

RIT had a chance to tie the score with seconds remaining but Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude)’s lay up hit the front of the rim and fell away giving Ithaca the ball back.