AMHERST, MA -- The No. 5 RIT (2-0) men's lacrosse team defeated Bates College (0-1) 15-9 in non-conference action from UMass-Amherst Saturday afternoon.

Shots were 56-28 in favor of RIT, while the Tigers won the ground ball battle, 44-19. The Tigers won 17-of-27 face-offs and went 25-of-28 on clearing attempts. The Tigers held the Bobcats to 13-of-23 on clearing attempts, and went 5-of-6 on man-up chances.

Dawson Tait (Ottawa, Ontario/Mother Teresa) and Ryan Barnable (Whitby, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) led the Tigers with seven points apiece. Tait tallied five goals and two assists, while Barnable finished with three goals and four helpers. Spencer Bell (Fairport, NY/Fairport) tallied three goals, while Quinn Commandant (Rockwood, Ontario/The Kiski School) chipped in a goal and two assists.

Walker Hare (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) improved to 2-0 on the season, making six saves. Nick Montemorano (Victor, NY/Victor) won 12-of-18 face-offs and led the Tigers with eight ground balls. Zach Gagnon (Port Jefferson, NY/Comsewogue) finished with two caused turnovers.

Jack Scribner led Bates with two goals and two assists. Curtis Knapton had two assists, and Jack Vinci finished with two goals for Bates.

RIT jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter and led 5-1 after the first 15 minutes. Bell and Tait each had two goals for the Tigers in the quarter. Tait tallied the lone goal in the second quarter to give RIT a 6-1 halftime lead.

Bell and Barnable ballooned the RIT lead to 8-1 early in the third quarter before Scribner broke the run with his goal to cut the Tigers lead to 8-2. RIT ran off four straight goals, taking a 12-2 lead on his third goal of the game with 5:46 to play in the quarter. Barnable and Tait each scored to begin the fourth quarter to make it 15-4, but the Bobcats rallied with five straight goals to make it a 15-9 final.

RIT returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 26, when the Tigers face Nazareth College at 3 p.m. from Golden Flyer Stadium.