ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT (12-9, 6-6 Liberty League) men's basketball team lost a critical Liberty League game Friday, falling at home to Clarkson University (11-9, 6-5 Liberty League) by a score of 75-59. The loss snaps RIT's three-game winning streak, as they remain sixth in the bunched up Liberty League standings.

RIT trailed 35-29 at halftime, and were outscored 40-30 in the second half. The tigers trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half, but rallied with an 11-0 run to pull to within five points on a layup by AJ Horde (Oak Park, MI/University of Detroit Jesuit) with 6:17 to play. Clarkson, however closed the game on a 16-5 run to win by 16.

RIT shot 35.0 percent from the floor on 21-of-60 shooting. The Tigers made just 1-of-16 from behind the arc, and went 16-of-24 from the foul line. Troy Pierre-Louis (Providence, RI/Berkshire School) led RIT with 16 points, while Robert Aguilera (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) added 15 points and five rebounds. Justin Schneider (Aurora, NY/Southern Cayuga) grabbed eight rebounds and four blocks.

Derek Hart led Clarkson with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Drew Zlogar chipped in 17 points and had 12 rebounds for the Golden Knights, who shot 42.9 percent from the floor.

RIT scored 32 points in the paint, and 11 off of eight Clarkson turnovers. Clarkson held a 45-40 rebounding edge, tallying 11 second-chance points off of 12 offensive boards.

RIT returns to action on Saturday, when the Tigers host league leader St. Lawrence at 4 p.m. at Clark Gymnasium. RIT will honor veterans of our military tomorrow afternoon in conjunction with the Veterans Outreach Center of Rochester.