Men's Basketball | 1/28/2011 10:15:59 PM

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ALFRED, NY -- On the strength of a big second half, the RIT men's basketball team picked up a key conference win, defeating Alfred University 80-66 on Friday night. The win pulls the Tigers to within a game of Stevens for fourth place in the Empire 8 standings.

After the Tigers trailed 37-35 at the half, RIT opened the second half on a 9-2 run, taking a seven point lead on a three pointer by Gabe Nicasio (Essex Junction, VT/Essex).

RIT built the lead to 11 points with just under 10 minutes to play on a three pointer by Justin Heisig (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) who led the Tigers with 24 points.

Alfred got no closer than seven points in the second half as the Tigers gradually pulled away to the 16 point win.

The Tigers were red-hot from the floor in the second half, shooting 64.3 percent. The Tigers were 18-of-28 from the floor in the second half, including 5-of-2 from behind the arc.

Besides Heisig, Anthony Terry (Rochester, NY/Bishop Kearney) scored 20 points and dished out a team-high six assists. Nicasio sparked the Tigers with 14 points off the bench.

RIT finished shooting 53.4 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Saxons 37-29. Heisig led the Tigers with nine rebounds.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, January 29 when they host Empire 8 rival Ithaca College at 4 pm at Clark Gym.