ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s basketball team squandered a 12-point second half lead, losing to Hartwick College 86-82 in overtime.

 

The Hawks sent the game into overtime with a bucket from Ramond Doyley with 1.4 seconds to play in regulation.

 

The loss drops RIT  to 9-9 overall and 3-4 in the Empire 8. Hartwick improves to 7-11 overall abd 0-7 in the Empire 8.

RIT led by as many as 12 points in the first half and led 39-38 at the break. Tim Bacon (Massena. NY/Massena)’s layup with about four minutes to play gave RIT a 34-22 lead.

The Hawks responded with a 16-5 run to end the half to cut RIT’s lead to one point. RIT shot 51.9% from the floor in the first half on 14-of-27 shooting.

Barrett Zeinfeld (Tucson, AZ/Catalina Foothills) (Tucson, AZ/Catalina Foothills) led RIT with 16 points. Rick Whitwood (Wellsville, NY/Wellsville) (Wellsville, NY) had seven points and four rebounds and Kenny Gethers (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) and Tim Bacon (Massena. NY/Massena) (Massena, NY) each had six points.

Hartwick shot 41.2% from the floor and was led by Jan Cocozziello who scored 13 points and dished out three assists. Cory Carson and Pat Dunnigan each had seven points.

RIT slowly extended their lead back to double digits as the second half wore on. Rick Whitwood (Wellsville, NY/Wellsville)’s three-pointer with 6:59 to play gave RIT a 12-point lead at 71-59.

Hartwick responded with a 16-5 run and tied the score at 75-75 on a layup by Albe Hulick.

 

The Tigers took a 77-75 lead with 1:28 to play on a layup by Tim Bacon (Massena. NY/Massena). With 1.4 seconds remaining Hartwick’s Jan Cocozziello threw in a lob to Ramond Doyley in the post who caught it and shot with 0.4 on the clock, tying the score at 77-77.

 

The Hawks outscored the Tigers 9-5 in the overtime for their first conference win of the season.

Barrett Zeinfeld (Tucson, AZ/Catalina Foothills) led RIT with 20 points. Kenny Gethers (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) had 19 points and six rebounds. Tim Bacon (Massena. NY/Massena) added 15 points and Rick Whitwood (Wellsville, NY/Wellsville) scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

RIT will face Alfred next Friday night at 8 pm in Alfred, New York.