ROCHESTER, NY -- THe RIT (5-8, 3-3 Liberty League) men's basketball team was defeated 77-76 in overtime by Skidmore College (9-3, 5-1 Liberty League) in Liberty League action from Clark Gym Friday evening. Noah Meren made the second of two free throws with no time left in overtime to give the Thoroughbreds the win.
RIT shot 46.0 percent from the floor on 29-of-63 shooting. The Tigers went 5-of-18 from behind the arc, and made 13-of-22 free throws.
Robert Aguilera (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) led the Tigers with a career-high 24 points to go along with six rebounds and two blocks.
Will Atkinson (Orchard Park, NY/Canisius) tallied 14 points, while
Marcell Davis (Buffalo, NY/St. Joseph's Institute) had a double-double, tallying 12 points, while grabbing 15 rebounds.
Troy Pierre-Louis (Providence, RI/Berkshire School) chipped in 11 points.
Edvinus Rupkus led Skidmore with 23 points. Noah Meren tallied 17 points, while Chase Ta finished with 12 points, five rebounds and seven assists for Skidmore who shot 40.5 percent from the floor.
RIT led 39-25 at halftime. The Tigers shot 53.8 percent from the floor. Aguilera led the Tigers with 12 points, while Rupkus led the Thoroughbreds with 11 points.
Aguilera tied the game at 67-67 on a pair of free throws with 38 seconds to play in regulation. Rupkus for Skidmore and Pierre-Louis for RIT each had chances in the closing seconds to score, but could not. Skidmore's Dakpe Yiljep was fouled with 3.2 seconds remaining in regulation, but missed both free throws, sending the game into overtime.
In the overtime, Aguilera gave RIT a 69-67 lead on his bucket early in the period. Pierre-Louis gave the Tigers a 74-71 lead with his basket at the 1:17 mark. With one minute remaining,
Anthony Lewis (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) gave RIT a 76-73 lead on a pair of free throws. Rupkus tied it with a 3-pointer with 43 seconds to play in the overtime. Both teams had their chances to take the lead until Meren was fouled as the buzzer sounded to end the overtime. He missed the first, but drained the second to give Skidmore the win.
RIT returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 4 p.m. versus Vassar College.
