ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT (8-6, 3-3 Liberty League) men's basketball defeated Bard College (7-7, 2-3 Liberty League) 79-73 in Liberty League action from Clark Gymnasium Friday evening. AJ Horde (Oak Park, MI/University of Detroit Jesuit) was one of three Tigers in double figures with 20 points. JP Reagan (Cortland, NY/Cortland) and Miguel Lopez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/St. Francis) each had 16 for RIT who improves to 7-0 all time versus the Raptors.

RIT shot 50.0 percent from the floor on 29-of-58 shooting. The Tigers went 10-of-18 from behind the arc, and were 11-of-19 from the foul line. Horde scored 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting including four 3-pointers. Reagan was 5-of-9 from the floor, while Lopez made 7-of-9 shots.
 
RIT jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead on a pair of buckets from Lopez and one from Clay. Horde's layup with 14:02 to play gave the Tigers a 15-7 lead. Bard came back, pulling to within three points on a pair of free throws from Siondueh Burnette with 12:28 to play in the half.
 
The Tigers outscored Bard 28-19 over the final 12:28, to lead 43-31 at the half. RIT led by as many as 17 points in the first half, shooting 57.7 percent from the floor. Reagan paced the Tigers with 11 first-half points.

The Tigers extended their lead to 15 points early in the second half on a layup by Horde at the 14:27 mark. With 12:01 to play, Horde drained a 3-pointer, giving the Tigers a 60-44 lead.

Bard responded with a 19-4 run over a 5:05 span, cutting the Tigers lead to one point on 3-pointer from Emmanuel Rainey with 7:36 to play. He made three straight long distance jumpers for the Raptors during the run. Consecutive layups by Casey Bobelis (Bradenton, FL/Braden River) and Lopez extended the RIT lead back to five points with a little less than six minutes to play.

Bard would not go away as Zach Goodman drained a three for Bard with 5:47 to play, cutting RIT's lead to 68-66. He finished with nine points off the bench for the Raptors. A layup from Lopez and a deep three from Joe Stortini (Red Hook, NY/Loomis Chaffee) gave the Tigers some breathing room, extending the lead to 73-66.

Bard got as close as five points on two occasions down the stretch on a pair of free throws from Harry Johnson and DeVahnte Mosley. However, the Tigers made key free throws down the stretch to hold on for the six-point win.
 
The Tigers scored 30 points in the paint and 21 points off of 20 Bard turnovers. Bard held a 39-28 rebounding edge. Rainey led the Raptors with 22 points, while Mosley chipped in 17.
 
RIT returns to action on Saturday, when Vassar College comes to Clark Gym for a 4 p.m. tip-off.