Men's Basketball | 1/5/2010 9:43:53 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT men's basketball team returned to regular season action on Tuesday, losing to Nazareth College (8-3, 5-0 Empire 8) 76-58. The loss drops RIT to 3-6 on the season and 0-3 in the Empire 8.

RIT trailed 39-27 at the half, shooting 35.5 percent from the floor including 1-for-6 from three-point land. RIT went cold in the latter part of the half, outscored by the Golden Flyers 14-4 over the final 8:52.

Brendan Harder (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) had a strong first half for RIT, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds. He was 6-of-12 from the floor and had five offensive rebounds.  Harder enjoyed his best collegiate performance by a wide margin, finishing with career highs of 26 points and 18 rebounds

The Tigers opened the second half with a 6-0 run, cutting Nazareth's lead to 39-33 on a lay-up by Justin Heisig (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) off a dish from Nate Korinchak (Strongsville, OH/Strongsville).

Nazareth responded with an 11-3 run, taking a 50-36 lead on a layup by Dan Waldbling with 11:29 to play, giving the Golden Flyers their largest lead of the game.

RIT cut the lead down to nine points thanks to a strong second half by Harder. He scored 14 of his game-high 26 points in the second half. But it wasn't enough to catch the Golden Flyers.

The Tigers shot 33.3 percent for the game on 23-of-69 shooting from the floor. RIT struggled from the three-line, going 2-for-11 from behind the arc.

Korinchak chipped in eight points, two assists and two steals.

RIT is off until Wednesday, January 13 when they participate in the Wendy's College Classic.