SCHENECTADY, NY — Despite a career-high 32 points from Troy Pierre-Louis (Providence, RI/Berkshire School), the RIT men's basketball team lost a heartbreaker, 71-70 at Union College (12-8, 8-4 Liberty League) Tuesday evening. With the loss, the Tigers fall to 12-11 overall, and 6-8 in Liberty League play.

RIT shot 41.0 percent from the floor on 25-of-61 shooting. The Tigers went just 5-of-22 from beyond the arc, and were 15-of-17 from the foul line. Pierre-Louis led RIT with 32 points on 10-of-19 shooting, and was 9-of-10 from the foul line. He also had six rebounds and five assists. Robert Aguilera (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) tallied 14 points, and Kevin Drain (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) scored eight points off the bench. Mitch Herman (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) led the Tigers with nine rebounds.

Union shot 32.2 percent from the floor on 19-of-59 shooting. Deshon Burgess and Wade McNamara led the Dutchmen with 20 points apiece. McNamara added 10 rebounds, while Burgess chipped in five rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

RIT fell behind 26-19 on a McNamara 3-pointer with just under nine minutes to play in the opening half. The Tigers responded, outscoring the Dutchmen 19-7 over the final 8:41 to lead by five at the break. Herman scored with 5:29 to play to give RIT a 27-26 lead. That capped off an 8-0 run by the Tigers.

Matt Liquori gave Union a 31-29 lead on his bucket with 3:14 to play in the half. Wyatt Smith (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit) gave RIT a 34-31 lead on his 3-pointer with 2:39 to play, and Aguilera scored with 1:19 to play to give RIT its largest lead of the half at 36-31. Lewis scored with seven seconds to play to give the Tigers a 38-33 lead.

RIT shot 45.2 percent from the floor in the first half on 14-of-31 shooting. Pierre-Louis led the Tigers with 15 points, while Aguilera scored 10 points. Lewis and Herman each had four rebounds. 

Union scored the first five points of the second half, tying the game at 38-38 on a pair of free throws from Burgess. Aguilera answered right back for RIT, going coast-to-coast and laying the ball in to give RIT a 40-38 lead. Justin Schneider (Aurora, NY/Southern Cayuga) gave the Tigers a four-point lead on his free throws off an offensive rebound just shy of three minutes into the second half.

Union answered with a 13-5 run, taking a 51-46 lead on a 3-pointer from McNamara with 14:35 to play. Pierre-Louis scored four straight points for RIT, cutting the Union lead to 51-50 on his jumper with 13:26 to play.

Midway through the half, Burgess gave Union a 61-56 lead on his 3-pointer with 9:56 to play. Brendan Laing would give the Dutchmen a 63-56 lead with his free throws with 7:33 to play.

After a pair of Burgess free throws with 6:42 to play gave Union a 64-58 lead, RIT went an 8-2 mini-run, cutting the Dutchmen lead to 67-66 on a layup by Aguilera with 4:16 remaining.

Trailing 69-66, Pierre-Louis was fouled on his way to the basket. He scored the bucket, and converted the free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play, tying the score at 69-69 with 1:56 to play.

Burgess scored on Union's next possession to give the Dutchmen a 71-69 lead. Herman was fouled with 27 seconds to play, but missed the front-end of a 1-and-1. He stole the ball from Liquori and got the ball to Pierre-Louis who was fouled driving the the hoop. He made the first, but missed the second, forcing the Tigers to foul.

Greg King missed both free throws, giving RIT one last chance. The Tigers worked the ball to Wyatt Smith (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit) in the the corner, but his 3-pointer came off the rim at the buzzer.

The Tigers returns to action on Wednesday, Feb.15 when RIT faces Hobart College in Liberty League action from Geneva, N.Y. Tip-off is 8 p.m.