GENEVA, NY -- The RIT men's basketball team (6-4, 0-1 Liberty League) opened conference play on Tuesday evening at Hobart College (8-4, 2-1 Liberty League). The Tigers jumped out to an early lead, but fell to the Statesmen 92-80 on Tuesday evening. #
JP Reagan (Cortland, NY/Cortland) and
Miguel Lopez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/St. Francis)# each had 16 points to pace the Tigers.
RIT opened the game with a 7-0 run. The Tigers were hot in the first half, shooting 60.7 percent from the field and led 40-38 at the break. Reagan led the Tigers with 10 first-half points, while #
Jameel Balenton (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers)# added eight points.
An 11-4 run by Hobart to open the second half gave the Statesmen a 49-44 lead inside the first two minutes. RIT got to within a point when Lopez laid a ball in off a feed from Reagan with 16:12 to play, cutting Hobart's lead to 51-50.
Hobart went on a 16-4 run over a 7:04 span, taking an 11-point lead on a three pointer by Connor Rehbaum with 9:48 to play, giving the Statesmen a 67-56 lead.
The Tigers fought back and got to within six points on a layup by #
Desmond Scott (Murphy, TX/Plano East)# with 4:22 to play, cutting Hobart's lead to 76-70.
That would be as close as the Tigers would get as Hobart outscored RIT 16-10 over the last 4:22 to go on to the win.
RIT shot well from the floor, hitting 34-of-53 (64.2 percent) attempts. The Tigers were 8-of-18 from behind the arc, and were 4-of-12 from the foul line.
Reagan and Lopez each finished with 16 points to lead the Tigers. For Lopez, the 16 points was a career high.
#
Kamron Davis (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham)#, #
Jameel Balenton (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers) and
Brendan Reinert (Wheatfield, NY/Starpoint)# each scored 10 points for the Tigers. RIT scored 10 points off seven Hobart turnovers and had 44 points in the paint.
Richie Bonney led all scorers with 25 points for Hobart. Rehbaum added 19, while Andrew Hoy tallied 17.
RIT returns to action on Friday, January 17 at Bard College. Tip-off at Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. is at 8 p.m.
