ROCHESTER, NY -- On an historic day at Clark Gym that saw the retirement of RIT Hall of Famer Craig Jones, the RIT (12-8, 6-5 Liberty League) men's basketball team won its third game in a row with an 86-83 victory over Vassar College (5-14, 1-9 Liberty League) in a crucial Liberty League contest Saturday. Prior to the game RIT retired Jones' No. 33 on the "Wall of Honor" in Clark Gymnasium. He is the first male athlete to have his jersey retired at RIT. With the win, the Tigers keep pace in the Liberty League playoff race.

"It was a great day to celebrate with Craig," said RIT head coach Bob McVean. "We started the week knowing we had to win all three games. We got them, but have to keep working hard and get better for the stretch run."

RIT shot 54.9 percent from the floor on 28-of-51 shooting. The Tigers went 12-of-25 from behind the arc, and went 18-of-23 from the foul line. Junior guard AJ Horde (Oak Park, MI/University of Detroit Jesuit) led all scorers with 31 points on 11-of-20 shooting. He had seven rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Troy Pierre-Louis (Providence, RI/Berkshire School) added 19 points, while Anthony Lewis (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) added 13 points off the bench for the Tigers.

Jesse Browne led Vassar with 20 points. Mason Dyslin tallied 18 points, while Alex Seff and Kyle Kappes each scored 13 for the Brewers, who shot 47.8 percent from the floor.

RIT led by as many as 13 points in the first half, holding a 48-39 edge at the half. Trailing 10-9 early in the game, the Tigers went on a 23-9 run, taking a 32-19 lead on a bucket by Jaymee Rosser (Newark, NY/Newark) at the 8:57 mark of the half. Vassar cut the lead to 41-35 on a layup by Krappes with 2:33 to play. A Mickey Adams layup with 23 seconds to play in the half cut the RIT lead back to six points. Horde drained a 3-pointer from deep with three seconds to play in the half to give RIT a 48-39 lead.

The Tigers shot 60.7 percent from the floor in the first half on 17-of-28 shooting. Horde led RIT with 17 points, while Pierre-Louis added 11.

Pierre-Louis increased the RIT lead to 58-45 with layup off an assist from Horde at the 14:46 mark of the second half. RIT would eventually lead by as many as 18 points twice in the second half. Lewis scored on a layup with 10:05 to play to make it 72-54 Tigers. Herman converted an old fashioned 3-point play with 7:41 to play to make it 77-59 RIT.

Vassar came storming back thanks to a 24-5 run. Kappes tied the score at 79-79 with his three with 2:35 to play. Browne gave Vassar an 83-82 lead with his layup with 29 seconds to play in regulation. On RIT's next possession, Lewis was fouled while driving to the basket. He calmly drained both free throws to give RIT an 84-83 lead with 22 seconds to play. Alex Seff had a look from 23 feet out with five seconds to play, but his shot missed. After a pair of Horde free throws made it 86-83, Seff had another look to tie the game, but his long 3-pointer at the buzzer came off the front iron and was rebounded by Pierre-Louis to secure the win for RIT.

The Tigers tallied 26 points in the paint. Vassar held a slight 31-30 rebounding edge. RIT scored seven points off of eight Vassar turnovers, and tallied seven second-chance points.

RIT is now 6-5 in league play, just outside a playoff berth with five games left. Three of those five games will be played at Clark Gym.

RIT returns to action on Friday, Feb. 3 when the Tigers host Clarkson University at 8 p.m. on the floor of Clark Gymnasium.