ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's basketball team (10-8, 6-3 Liberty League) out-scored visiting Rensselaer (9-8, 3-5 Liberty League) 44-32 in the second half to earn a 65-57 win in Liberty League-action from Clark Gymnasium Friday evening.
 
RIT shot 46.9 percent from the floor on 23-of-49 shooting. The Tigers went 7-of-17 from 3-point land, and went 12-of-14 from the foul line. AJ Horde (Oak Park, MI/University of Detroit Jesuit) led RIT with 24 points, including 20 in the second half. He finished with four rebounds, five assists and three steals. Kamron Davis (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) added 14 points and nine rebounds.

"Rensselaer did a good job keeping us out of the lane in the first half," said RIT head coach Bob McVean. "I thought the guys made good adjustments in the second half and started finding the open man."

Chase Almond led Rensselaer with 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Nate Kane scored 10 points, while Asa Barnhill scored 11 points off the bench for Rensselaer who shot 39.3 percent from the floor.

Rensselaer led throughout the first half, leading by as many as seven points on a 3-pointer by Barnhill with 9:24 to play. A Davis layup off an assist from Herman with 5:52 to play cut the Rensselaer lead to 19-16.

Marcus Giese gave RPI a 25-19 lead on a layup off an assist from Kane with 1:01 to play in the opening half. Troy Pierre-Louis (Providence, RI/Berkshire School) drained two free throws with 37 seconds to play, making it 25-21 Rensselaer at halftime.

RIT shot 37.5 percent in the first half on 9-of-24 shooting. Davis led RIT with six points, while Barnhill led Rensselaer with seven points.

The Tigers came to life from the floor in the second half, shooting 56 percent on 14-of-25 shooting. Horde led the second-half charge, tallying 20 points. His 3-pointer with 13:27 to play gave the Tigers the lead for good.

Another long range jumper from Horde with 5:52 to play gave the Tigers their first double digit lead of the second half at 54-44. A pair of Davis free throws with 56 seconds to play made 63-52 Tigers. Nate Kane drained a late 3-pointer for RPI, but it was too little too late as RIT held on for the win.

Rensselaer held a slight 32-31 rebounding edge. The Tigers tallied 30 points in the paint and 11 second-chance points. RIT tallied 11 points off of 13 Rensselaer turnovers.

RIT won both regular season meetings between the two schools and remain atop the bunched up Liberty League standings.

RIT returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 30 when they host Skidmore College at 4 p.m. RIT will honor all veterans before the game tomorrow, and will be collecting donations for the Veterans Outreach of Rochester.