Men's Basketball | 1/25/2013 10:04:00 PM
Box Score
ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT (5-11, 1-6 Liberty League) came back from a 10-point second half deficit to beat Vassar College (5-11, 1-6 Liberty League) 62-53 in Liberty League action from Clark Gym Friday night. The win snaps a seven-game losing streak by the Tigers and moves RIT Head Coach
Bob McVean to within two wins of 500 for his career.
Junior
Jameel Balenton (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers) led RIT with 18 points.
Ronnie Canestro (Buffalo, NY/Nichols School) added 10 points for the Tigers who shot 44.2 percent from the floor on 23-of-52 shooting. #J.P. Reagan# added six points, while Canestro led the Tigers with six rebounds.
Sam Rappaport led Vassar with 12 points. Erikson Wasyl, Curtis Smith and Evan Carberry each had seven for the Brewers who shot 35.8 percent from the floor on 19-of-53 shooting.
Trailing 31-28 at the half, Vassar opened up a 10 point lead on a three pointer by Wasyl with 13:11 to play.
RIT responded with an 11-1 run, taking their first lead since early in the first half, on layup by
Kamron Davis (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) with 8:25 to play. Davis,
Eric Seaberry (Lyndhurst, OH/Charles F. Brush), Canestro,
Desmond Scott (Murphy, TX/Plano East) and Balenton helped spark the Tigers run with pressure defense, forcing the Brewers into two turnovers.
On Vassar's next possession, a pair of Jon Herzog free throws with 7:57 to play tied the score at 48-48.
Lucas Wager gave Vassar a 50-48 lead with 5:31 to play on a layup off an offensive rebound.
Mike D'Amico's conversion of a pair of free throws with 5:07 to play tied the score at 50-50.
Two more free throws by Canestro with 2:55 to play made it a 52-50 lead for the Tigers.
Eric Travis (Chicago,IL/Hinsdale South), who was mired in foul trouble all evening, came up big down the stretch, making a pair of free throws with 2:26 to play to give RIT a 54-50 lead. In all, RIT went 10-for-12 down the stretch to help seal the win and break the streak.
RIT scored 20 points off of 12 Vassar turnovers and held a 42-29 rebounding edge, including 11 offensive rebounds leading to 17 points.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 26 when they host Bard College at 4 p.m. on the floor of Clark Gym.
