ROCHESTER, NY – The No. 4 seed RIT men's basketball team will play No. 1 seed Hobart in the Liberty League Semifinal on Friday, February 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Hobart. It is the second time the Tigers have qualified for the conference tournament and first time since 2018.
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RIT advanced to the semifinal with a 74-71 win over No. 5 Union in Tuesday's quarterfinal. Junior forward
Josiah Turner led the Tigers with 19 points and nine rebounds, while senior guard
Matt Caggiano tallied 18 points. Trailing by 13 points midway through the second half, RIT outscored the Garnett Chargers 25-9.
RIT is 14-12 and fourth in the Liberty League averaging 72.9 points per game. The Tigers lead the league shooting 44.7 percent as a team and are sixth defensively, allowing 72.0 points per contest.
Caggiano leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game. Junior guard
Chase Dickens is second on the team averaging 11.9 points, while junior guard
Brock Bowen is third averaging 11.8 points per game. Bowen is third in the Liberty League shooting 41.8 percent from beyond the arc and fourth averaging 2.7 three-pointers per game.
Turner is tied for fifth in the league averaging 7.1 rebounds per game and is sixth in the league averaging 0.9 blocks per game. Caggiano is fifth in the Liberty League averaging 2.9 assists per game, Bowen is tied for sixth averaging 2.8 per game and senior guard
Keegan Ocorr is tied for ninth averaging 2.6 helpers per game.
Hobart is 20-5, including 13 wins in Liberty League play. The Statesmen finished first in the league standings based on tie-breaker scenarios. It is the eighth time Hobart has won the Liberty League regular season title and first since 2018. The Statesmen are fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 71.5 points per game and fourth defensively allowing 66.9 points per contest.
Junior guard Pat Healy leads the team and is tenth in the league averaging 12.7 points per game. Junior guard Aidan Rodgers is second on the team, averaging 11.8 points per game and is fourth in the league averaging 3.4 assist per contest. Junior forward Carter Mechanic is third in scoring (11.6 PPG) and leads Hobart averaging 7.1 rebounds per game.
RIT is 50-48 all-time against Hobart, including a 1-1 record versus the Statesmen this year with each team winning on its home court. RIT beat Hobart, 77-76 on Jan. 6 at Clark Gym. Junior forward
Jackson Otis led RIT with 20 points, while Meshanic led Hobart with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Caggiano scored 13 points in the Tigers 81-58 loss at Hobart on Jan. 27, while Healy led the Statesmen with 17 points.
The winner of Friday's semifinal advances to Sunday's championship and will face the winner between RPI and St. Lawrence.
