Men's Basketball | 3/1/2009 4:33:49 PM
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ITHACA, NY -The RIT men's basketball team (19-8) earned an automatic berth into the 2009 NCAA Tournament by defeating Nazareth College (13-14) in overtime, 76-71 in the Empire 8 Championship at Ithaca College on Sunday. It is RIT's first trip to the NCAA Tournament since the 1999-00 season.
It is RIT's first Empire 8 Championship since the conference moved to a playoff format in 2002-03 and sixth conference title under Head Coach #Bob McVean#.
Dominique Kendrick missed a pair of free-throws for Nazareth with 1.1 seconds left in regulation with the game tied at 62. The Golden Flyers tied the game on a steal and lay-up by Kendrick with 25 seconds left. RIT was called for traveling with eight seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Corey McAdam found Kendrick who was fouled underneath the hoop.
Nazareth took its first lead since early in the first half, 64-62, early in overtime on a hook shot by Jeff DeHimer. #Nate Korinchak (Strongsville, OH/Strongsville)# (Strongsville, OH/Strongsville) made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 66. After that, Shawn Roe (Corning, NY/Corning East) (Corning, NY/Corning East) for RIT and Jason Corletta for Nazareth nailed back-to-back three-pointers to keep the game tied at 69.
Korinchak made one free throw and Mark Carson (Voorheesville, NY/Voorheesville) (Voorheesville, NY/Voorheesville) drained a pair of free throws with 29 seconds left to give RIT a 72-69 lead. Nazareth cut the lead to 72-71 on a lay-up by Phil Scaffidi. Roe was fouled and hit two clutch free-throws to put RIT up 74-71 with 11 seconds left. RIT played great defense in the final possession and forced an off balance 3-point attempt by Ryan McAdam that was rebounded by Marcus Lowe (Anchorage, AK/Service) (Anchorage, AK/Service). Lowe hit the final two free throws to seal the win.
The Tigers, seeded second in the tournament, led by 10 after the first half, and by as many as 14 in the second half, 52-38 with 12:01 left. Turnovers plagued the Tigers as Nazareth made its second half comeback. RIT turned the ball over 13 times over the final 20 minutes of regulation.
McVean, who won his 400th game at RIT on Saturday, was very proud of the way his team fought to win the conference tournament.
"The game was a typical Nazareth, RIT battle, a game of runs," said McVean. "Today's game was another example of the character and grit we have shown all season. We've been in a lot of close games and found ways to get the job done. I am proud of how they got through their final exams this week and still had enough to get two big wins this weekend. Our goal is to win the Empire 8 and get to the NCAA's and we were able to do that."
Carson was named the Tournament MVP after leading all players with 27 points, 13 rebounds and four steals. He shot 11-for-13 from the field and grabbed his 24th double-double of the season. He moved into seventh place all-time in one season at RIT with 533 points.
Korinchak finished with 15 points, seven boards and four assists. Scott Young (Almond, NY/Hornell) (Almond, NY/Hornell) added 12 points and six boards, while Lowe added 10 points.
DeHimer led Nazareth with 21 points on 9-of-9 shooting from the field. Corey and Ryan McAdam each had 15 points apiece for the Golden Flyers, who finish 13-14.
RIT out-rebounded Nazareth 39-20. The Tigers shot 52 percent (27-for-52) from the field. Nazareth shot 54 percent in the second half and 47 percent from the game.
RIT led 34-24 at the end of the first half, despite Nazareth scoring the final five points. The Tigers went on a 17-4 run over a 6:01 span late in the first half to take a 34-19 lead. Young's 3-pointer with 2:53 left in the half gave RIT its biggest lead. Nazareth cut the lead to 10 on a long 3-pointer by Corey McAdam at the buzzer.
The Tigers came out and scored the game's first six points, while Nazareth countered the score the next seven. RIT then went on an 11-2 run to go up 17-9.
RIT shot 50 percent (13-for-26) in the first half and received balanced scoring. Nazareth shot just 37.5 percent from the floor and turned the ball over eight times.
RIT leads the all-time series against Nazareth, 33-25. Today's meeting was fourth between the two schools this season, with both teams winning twice. RIT defeated Nazareth, 94-81 on overtime on Dec. 6, while the Golden Flyers upended RIT 87-73 on Jan. 14. Just 12 days ago, Corey McAdam's buzzer-beating 3-pointer from 30-feet out lifted visiting Nazareth to a dramatic, 86-84 win over RIT at Clark Gym. That shot spoiled a career game for Carson, who scored 31 points, added 20 boards and blocked eight shots. He also went over 1,000 career points in that game.
RIT last appeared in the Empire 8 Championship game in 2005, falling to St. John Fisher. The last time RIT was in the NCAA Tournament was in 1999-00, losing a second round game to Penn State-Behrend. It is RIT's seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Yesterday, RIT defeated #3 Utica 65-62 in one semifinal, while Nazareth shocked #1 Ithaca, 82-76 in the other semifinal.
The Tigers will find out who and where they will play in the NCAA Tournament on Monday morning. The NCAA selection show can be seen online at www.ncaa.com. The women's selection show begins at 11 a.m., with the men's to come immediately after.
