ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT (13-12, 11-7 Liberty League) men's basketball team clinched the third seed in the upcoming Liberty League Tournament with a 99-81 win over Bard College (7-18, 5-13 Liberty League) Saturday afternoon from Clark Gymnasium. The Tigers honored seniors Wyatt Smith (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit), Anthony Lewis (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) and Troy Pierre-Louis (Providence, RI/Berkshire School) prior to the game as they made their final regular season appearance at Clark Gym.

RIT shot 52.9 percent from the floor on 37-of-70 shooting. The Tigers made 7-of-19 from beyond the arc, and were an impressive 18-of-19 from the foul line. Lewis led all scorers with 26 points. Pierre-Louis tallied 18 points, four assists and six rebounds, while Robert Aguilera (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) chipped in 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. He now has 80 blocks on the season which ties him for the program-record for blocks in a season with Charlie Bartlett, who set the original mark back during the 1992-93 season.

David Runcie led Bard with 19 points. Jelani Bell-Isaac tallied 18 points and had eight rebounds, while Justyn Rogers finished with 13 points for the Raptors, who shot 46.9 percent from the floor.

RIT built its lead steadily throughout the first half. Aguilera'a layup with 12:20 to play in the half gave the Tigers a 17-7 lead. Will Atkinson (Orchard Park, NY/Canisius) gave RIT a 35-15 lead on his 3-pointer with 7:41 to play in the half, and a pair of Pierre-Louis free throws at the end of the half gave the Tigers their largest lead of the game to date at 46-24.

Pierre-Louis led the Tigers with 10 first-half points, while Lewis finished with nine points and five rebounds, as RIT shot 52.8 percent from the floor.

An Atkinson 3-pointer early in the second half gave RIT its largest lead at 49-24. Justin Schneider (Aurora, NY/Southern Cayuga) scored off an assist from Lewis with 7:50 to play to give RIT a 20-point lead. The Raptors responded with a 12-0 run, cutting the RIT lead to 83-75 on 3-pointer from Rogers with 4:21 to play. Lewis, Pierre-Louis and Aguilera made some big shots down the stretch for RIT to put the game away.

RIT held a 42-26 rebounding advantage, including 14 on the offensive glass. The Tigers scored 34 points in the paint, as part of their season-high 99-point outburst.

The Tigers advance to the Liberty League Tournament for the first time since the 2014-15 season. RIT will host No. 6 seed Vassar College in a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at Clark Gymnasium at a time to be determined. Check www.ritathletics.com for the game time in the coming days.