Men's Basketball | 12/10/2011 3:46:00 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT (3-4) men's basketball team was defeated 69-66 by Gwynedd Mercy (7-3) in the 26th Annual Harold J. Brodie Tournament championship game. RIT's Justin Heisig (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) and Desmond Scott (Murphy, TX/Plano East) were all-tournament team selections. Gwynedd Mercy's Dan DelConte was the tournament's MVP, while Frank Champion was named to the all tournament team.

After trailing by as many as 19 points in the firts half, and as many as 12 in the second half, the Tigers clawed back into the contest, taking their first lead since early in the game on a buckey by Eric Travis (Chicago,IL/Hinsdale South) with 4:56 to play in the game. Travis' made free throw with 4:15 to play to extended the Tigers lead to three points.

A bucket by the Griffin's Brandon Sharp cut the Tigers lead to one point but an offensive rebound and a putback by Heisig extend RIT's lead back to three points at 62-59 with 3:30 to play.

Doug Berzin's jumper with 1:28 to play gave Gwynedd Mercy a three point lead at 65-63.

Heisig's made free throws with 1:04 to play cut the Griffins lead to 64-65. With 31 seconds to play, Scott stepped to the line and calmly drained a pair of free throws to give the Tigers a 66-65 lead.

On Gwynedd Mercy's next possession, Berzin drained a three-pointer with 16 seconds to play, giving the Griffins a 68-66 lead.

RIT got the ball in bounds and into the hands of Ronnie Canestro (Buffalo, NY/Nichols School) who's three-pointer with seven seconds to play rattled off the rim and into the hands of Brandon Sharp who made one of two free throws to make it a 69-66 final.

RIT shot 35.6 percent from the floor on 21-of-59 shooting. The Tigers were 7-of-25 from behind the arc and were 17-of-22 from the foul line. The Tigers held a slight rebounding edge 37-36 and scored 21 points off of 18 Griffins turnovers.

Brendan Harder (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) led RIT with 15 points and eight rebounds. He scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, keying the Tigers second-half comeback. Heisig finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Scott added six points, three rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Champion paced Gwynedd Mercy with 17 points and eight rebounds. DelConte scored 20 points, dished out five assists and had three steals. Brendan Stanton scored 12 points and had six assists.

RIT return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 3 when they host cross-town rival the University of Rochester at 7 pm at Clark Gym.

26th Annual Harold J. Brodie Memorial Tournamet All-Tournament Team
Matt Baldwin - Utica College
Omari Phipps - York College
Justin Heisig (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) - RIT
Desmond Scott (Murphy, TX/Plano East) - RIT
Frank Champion - Gwynedd Mercy
Dan DelConte - MVP - Gwynedd Mercy