| 2/9/2008 7:52:07 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT (12-9, 6-6 E8) men's basketball team held off a second half run by Utica (11-9, 6-6 E8), pullin away for the 81-66 victory in Empire 8 action on Senior Day at Clark Gymnasium. The Pioneers whittled down a 45-32 half time deficit to five points, but the Tigers hit some timely baskets and made their free throws down the stretch  for their 12th win of the season.

RIT was led by the trio of Mark Carson (Voorheesville, NY/Voorheesville) (Voorheesvile, NY), Kenny Gethers (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) and Colin Roy (Malta, NY/Ballston Spa) (Ballston Spa, NY/Malta). Carson finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds. He shot 6-of-10 from the floor and made 4-of-8 from the free throw line.

Gethers scored a team-high 20 points, grabbed nine points, dished out two assists and had two steals. Roy had 12 points, five assists and two rebounds.

The Tigers shot well from floor, shooting 54.3% (25-46) from the floor. The Tigers made 6-of-15 from the behind the three-point line and made 25-of-30 from the charity stripe.

RIT built a 45-32 half time lead thanks to a 12-7 run over the final 4:41 of the half. Mark Carson (Voorheesville, NY/Voorheesville)'s layup with 39 seconds gave RIT their biggest lead of the half. He led RIT with 12 first-half points.

Utica opened the second half with an 18-10 run and pulled to within five points on a jumper from Doug Herring. He finished with a game-high 23 points for the Pioneers.

That would be the closest the Pioneers would get as RIT slowly pulled away in the second half for their second straight conference  win.

The win pulls RIT into a tie for fifth place with Utica in the Empire 8 standings. The Tigers are two games back in the loss column to Ithaca who sits in fourth place.

RIT will host cross-town and Empire 8 rival St. John Fisher College on Tuesday, February 12 at 8 pm at Clark Gym.