ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT (1-0) men's basketball team opened its 2017-18 season with a 73-65 win over Wells College (0-2) in non-conference action from Clark Gym Saturday afternoon. Junior Jaymee Rosser (Newark, NY/Newark) tallied a career-high 28 points to pace the Tigers offense.

RIT shot 42.9 percent from the floor on 26-of-62 shooting. The Tigers made 10-of-25 from behind the arc, and went just 11-of-29 from the foul line. Rosser led RIT with a career-high 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including five 3-point buckets. He had four steals, four rebounds a block and an assist. Senior Troy Pierre-Louis (Providence, RI/Berkshire School) chipped in 22 points, while Wyatt Smith (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit) added eight points off the bench. Anthony Lewis (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) finished with five assists and a team-high 11 rebounds, while Marcell Davis (Buffalo, NY/St. Joseph's Institute) grabbed 10 boards off the bench.

Rich Ross led Wells with 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting. Macho DeJesus tallied 16 points, while David Dames grabbed 11 rebounds for the Express who shot 30.1 percent from the floor.

Wells led throughout the bulk of the first half, taking a 12-8 lead on a layup by DeJesus early in the half. Ross gave the Express their largest lead at of the half with his two free throws at the 11:46 mark of the half to give Wells an 17-11 edge. RIT answered back with a 10-3, taking a 21-20 lead late in the half on a bucket by Rosser with 6:06 to play. He drained a pair of free throws with seconds remaining in the opening half to give the Tigers a 30-29 lead, but Anthony Nesci nailed a 3-pointer with time running out to give the Express a 32-30 halftime lead.

RIT scored the first five points of the second half, taking a 35-32 lead on a layup by Rosser early in the half. DeJesus gave the Express their final lead of the game on his layup with 11:59 to play in regulation. The Tigers answered with a 9-0 run, taking a 56-46 lead on a 3-pointer from Pierre-Louis off an assists from Marcell Davis (Buffalo, NY/St. Joseph's Institute). Rosser's 3-pointer with 4:34 to play gave RIT its largest lead of the game at 63-48.

Wells got as close as eight points down the stretch, but the Tigers had too much for the Express to come back. With the win, RIT improves to 2-0 all time versus Wells.

RIT returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 21 when the Tigers face Alfred University at 7 p.m. in Alfred, N.Y.