PITTSFORD, NY -- The RIT (2-5) men's basketball team was defeated 77-67 by Nazareth College (4-1) in the first game of the Third Annual Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout at Manning Napier Varsity Gym on the campus of St. John Fisher College. 

RIT shot 45.9 percent from the floor on 28-of-61 shooting. The Tigers were 7-of-16 from beyond the arc, and made 4-of-10 from the foul line. Jaymee Rosser (Newark, NY/Newark) led RIT with 13 points and seven rebounds. Will Atkinson (Orchard Park, NY/Canisius) tallied 12 points, while Chuck Okehie (Owings Mills, MD/McDonogh) chipped in nine points.

Jake Burgio led Nazateth with a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds. Zach Stenglein added 13 points, while Isaac Nelson tallied 12 points for the Golden Flyers, who shot 50.0 percent from the floor.

RIT led through much of the first half. Chase Lewis (Ewing, NJ/Princeton Day School) gave RIT a 16-12 lead at the 11:16 mark of the half, while Rosser upped the RIT edge to six on a jumper with 10:23 remaining. A pair of Burgio free throws cut the RIT lead to 20-18, but a 3-pointer from Rosser with 8:21 remaining increased the RIT lead to 23-18.

Nazareth responded with a 6-0 spurt, taking a 24-23 lead on a layup by Stenglein with 6:48 to play. Stenglein gave the Golden Flyers a 33-27 lead on his layup with 3:15 to play in the first half. Matt Anderson (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union) drained a 3-pointer off an assist from Lewis with 18 seconds remaining in the half to cut the Nazareth lead to 36-35 at the break.

RIT shot 51.6 percent from the floor in the first half on 16-of-31 shooting. Rosser led the Tigers with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor.

The Tigers opened the second half with a 5-2 spurt, taking a 41-38 lead on a 3-pointer from Atkinson early on. Marcell Davis (Buffalo, NY/St. Joseph's Institute) converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, increasing the RIT lead to 46-40 at the 14:41 mark of the half. After Nazareth tied the game, Curtis Nesbit (Woodbridge, NJ/Woodbridge) gave the Tigers a 49-48 lead on his 3-pointer at the 12:40 mark.

Nazareth ran off seven straight points, taking a 55-49 lead at the 10:07 mark on a layup by Stenglein. He increased the Golden Flyers lead to 61-50 on his bucket with 7:55 to play. The Tigers got within eight points down the stretch, but the Golden Flyers made free throws at the end of the game to seal the win. 

RIT held a slight 38-35 rebounding edge. The Tigers return to action on Saturday, December 8 when RIT faces St. John Fisher College at 8 p.m. in game two of the Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout.