Men's Basketball | 1/31/2010 3:47:27 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT men's basketball team held off a late rally to defeat Ithaca College 77-73 in Empire 8 action on Sunday. Nate Korinchak (Strongsville, OH/Strongsville) and Anthony Terry (Rochester, NY/Bishop Kearney) led RIT with 19 points apiece. The Tigers improve to 8-10 overall and 4-5 in the Empire 8.

RIT shot 50 percent from the floor for the game on 32-of-64 shooting. The TIgers were 5-of-14 from three-point range and out rebounded Ithaca 54-41.

Brendan Harder (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) was one of four players in double figures for RIT. He finished with 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Marcus Lowe (Anchorage, AK/Service) had 11 off the bench and Adam Haines (West Sand Lake, NY/Averill Park) had another solid game with seven points and eight rebounds for RIT.

Phil Barera led Ithaca with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Andrei Oztemel had 18 points off the bench for the Bombers and Sean Rossi added 13 points for Ithaca who fall to 13-6 overall and 6-4 in the Empire 8.

The Tigers led 40-33 at half time on the strength of a 9-1 run over the final 3:29. RIT scored 14 of their 40 points in the paint in the first half and had eight second chance points. Nate Korinchak (Strongsville, OH/Strongsville) led RIT with 10 first-half points. Harder scored eight and Terry added seven.

RIT scored the first two buckets coming out of half time on a layup by Terry and a jumper by Harder to give the Tigers a 44-33 lead. RIT built their lead to 16 points midway through the second half despite going 3-for-9 from the foul line.

Ithaca rallied with a late run, outscoring the TIgers 21-7 over a five minute span and cut RIT's lead to two points on a three pointer by Andrei Oztemel with 17 seconds remaining.

Marcus Lowe (Anchorage, AK/Service), who finished with 11 points, was fouled on the ensuing in bounds. He calmly stepped up and drained two pressure-packed free throws to make it a two possession game and seal the win for RIT.

The win is the fourth in a row for RIT who split the regular season series with the Bombers. The Tigers will host Empire 8 and cross-town rival St. John Fisher College on Tuesday, February 5 at 8 pm.