Men's Basketball | 1/5/2013 5:57:00 PM

Box Score

OSWEGO, NY -- The RIT (4-6) men's basketball dropped their second straight game, losing at Oswego State 63-59 on Saturday afternoon. Junior Eric Travis (Chicago,IL/Hinsdale South) paced the Tigers with career-high 23 points and 11 rebounds. Jameel Balenton (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers) added 16 points for the Tigers.

Trailing by as many as 16 points in the second half, RIT battled back to within one point of the Lakers on the strength of a 17-2 run. Travis scored 11 of the Tigers 17 points in that stretch, pulling the Tigers to within a point at 43-42 with a layup.

The Lakers answered with a 10-4 run of their own, taking a 53-46 lead on a made free throw by Hayden Ward with 6:42 to play in regulation. Ward led the Lakers with 20 points.

Freshman Mike D'Amico's three pointer with 4:17 to play pulled the Tigers to within two at 53-51. D'Amico finished with eight points.

The Tigers got to within two points on a couple occasion inside the last four minutes, including a three pointer by Balenton with :14 seconds to play to make it 60-58 Oswego State.

A Kyle Colvey free throw with :10 seconds to play gave Oswego a 61-58 lead.

D'Amico made one-of-two free throws with :03 second to play to make it 61-59. But, a pair of Ward free throws made it a 63-59 lead for the Lakers as time ran out.

RIT shot 41.2 percent from the floor on 21-of-51 shooting. The Tigers made 3-of-12 three pointers and went 14-of-17 from the foul line. Travis' 23 points is a career high. He went 10-of-18 from the floor and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Balenton added 16 points, while D'Amico and Nick Dobson (Corning, NY/Corning West) each scored eight points.

Rebeounding was tied at 28 apiece. The Tigers scored nine points off of nine Oswego turnovers. The Lakers scored 30 points in the paint to 16 for the Tigers who fall to 4-6 on the season.

RIT returns to Liberty League action on Tuesday, Jan. 8 with a trip down I-90 to face Hobart College at 8 pm on the floor of Bristol Gym.