GENESEO, NY – The sixth seeded RIT men's basketball team (5-3) fell to No. 5 seed Hobart College (3-2), 68-59 in the seventh place game of the 49th annual Wendy's College Classic on Saturday afternoon from Schrader Gymnasium on the campus of the SUNY Geneseo.
RIT shot 35.6 percent from the floor on 21-of-59 shooting. The Tigers went 11-of-29 from behind the arc, and were 6-of-13 from the foul line. The Tigers held a 45-39 rebounding advantage, tallying 13 points off of 15 offensive rebounds. Sophomore
Mitch Herman (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) led RIT with 12 points and nine rebounds. He was 4-of-10 from the floor, with all made baskets coming from 3-point range.
Anthony Lewis (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) came off the bench to tally a career-high 11 points.
AJ Horde (Oak Park, MI/University of Detroit Jesuit) added a team-high eight assists.
JP Reagan (Cortland, NY/Cortland) tallied nine points and nine rebounds.
RIT trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, before a late run cut the Statesmen lead to 32-27 at the break. The Tigers outscoreed Hobart 12-5 over the final 7:54 of the first half, and got as close as 27-25 on a layup by
Sheldon Clay (Detroit, MI/University of Detroit Jesuit) with 5:18 left. The Tigers shot 37.0 percent from the floor in the first half on 10-of-27 shooting. Lewis and
Matt Gundrum (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) led RIT, each with five first-half points.
RIT cut the Hobart lead to three points early in the second half when
Kevin Drain (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) laid the ball in off an offensive rebound. He finished with a career-high seven points off the bench for the Tigers, grabbing six rebounds. The Statesmen answered with a 19-3 run, taking a 51-32 lead on a layup by Pete Drescher with 13:02 to play.
RIT answered back with a 10-0 run of its own, pulling to within nine points on a layup by
Miguel Lopez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/St. Francis) off a feed from
Joe Stortini (Red Hook, NY/Loomis Chaffee). Lopez and Stortini each scored five points in the run for the Tigers. Hobart upped its lead back to 14 points when Trey Blanding nailed a 3-pointer with 8:38 to play in regulation. The Tigers answered with a quick 9-1 burst, cutting the lead to 57-51 when Herman nailed the second of his two straight 3-pointers. That would be as close as the Tigers would get as Hobart outscored RIT 11-8 from there on out for the 68-59 victory.
RIT is 46-35 all time versus Hobart. They will also meet in Liberty League play on Jan. 13 at Clark Gym and Feb. 18 from Hobart.
The Tigers close out the 2014 calendar with their final non-league game of the season at Baptist Bible College on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 6 p.m.
