Men's Basketball | 1/13/2010 9:08:27 PM

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KEUKA PARK, NY -- The sixth seeded RIT (4-6) men's basketball team defeated #3 Nazareth College (9-4) 73-56 in the opening round of the 44th Annual Wendy's College Classic held at Keuka College. It's the first opening round win for the Tigers in the tournament since 2005, when RIT advanced to the championship game.

The Tigers featured three players scoring in double figures led by Brendan Harder (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) who scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Anthony Terry (Rochester, NY/Bishop Kearney) added 19 points and Scott Young (Almond, NY/Hornell) chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds.

The Tigers, who never trailed in the game, led 41-29 at the half and never looked back. RIT shot 43.2 percent from the floor in the opening half, while holding the Golden Flyers to 33.3 percent shooting.

Terry scored 12 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor, while Harder chipped in nine points and grabbed six rebounds.

The second half went much like the first, with RIT pulling out to a 19-point lead on a three-pointer by Terry with 12:53 to play in the game.

Nazareth got as close as 13 points in the second half, but poor shooting and stout defense by the Tigers held the Golden Flyers in check.

RIT held Nazareth to 34.8 percent shooting for the game and forced the Golden Flyers into 11 turnovers. The Tigers out-rebounded Nazareth 46-40.

The Tigers will face No. 2 St. John Fisher in the semifinals on Friday, January 15 at 8:15 p.m. at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Rochester.