SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- The RIT (6-4, 0-2 Liberty League) men's basketball team came up short Saturday, losing 78-72 at Skidmore College (7-3, 2-0 Liberty League). The Tigers trailed by 17 points in the second half, but came back to tie the game late before Skidmore pulled out the win.
AJ Horde (Oak Park, MI/University of Detroit Jesuit) led RIT with 31 points, including 27 in the second half.
Robert Aguilera (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) tallied 12 points off the bench, while
Jaymee Rosser (Newark, NY/Newark) scored 11 and
Troy Pierre-Louis (Providence, RI/Berkshire School) added 10 points. The Tigers shot just 32.8 percent from the floor, and went 9-of-25 from behind the arc.
Edvinas Rupkus led Skidmore with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Royce Paris added 19 points for the Thoroughbreds who shot 44.4 percent from the floor on Saturday.
The Tigers trailed 41-26 at halftime, and fell behind behind by as many as 17 points in the second half. Rupkus gave the Thoroughbreds a 49-32 lead on his layup with 17:01 to play in the second half. He drained a 3-pointer with 12:55 to play to give Skidmore a 56-41 lead.
RIT rallied, pulling to within three points on a 3-pointer from Pierre-Louis with 8:04 to play. Horde keyed the 12-3 run, scoring eight points during that stretch. After a Paris layup extended the Skidmore lead back to seven points, Horde struck again, this time laying the ball in with 5:48 to play to cut the deficit to 63-61.
Paris scored again for the Thoroughbreds to extend the lead to four points, but Horde on two straight possessions for RIT, tying the score at 65-65 on his layup with 4:02 to play.
Two free throws from Horde with 2:55 to play tied the score at 67 apiece, and Aguilera made one of two free throws with 2:17 to play to cut the Skidmore lead to one point. Unfortunately for RIT, the Thoroughbreds made key shots and free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
Skidmore held a 44-32 rebounding edge. The Tigers tallied 14 points in the paint and 16 points off of turnovers.
RIT is right back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017 when the Tigers host cross-town rival University of Rochester at 7 p.m. on floor of Clark Gymnasium.
