NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The RIT men's basketball team fell to Christopher Newport, 68-59, in the final game of the Captain's Shootout, Tuesday evening.
The Tigers trailed by four points at halftime and were within five points late before the Captains, who are receiving votes in the latest d3hoops.com Top 25 poll, pulled away in the second half.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- RIT and Christopher Newport traded leads eight times in the first half, with first-year guard Muhsin Muhammad hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 40-36 at halftime.
- Junior forward Nolan Smith opened the second half with a three-pointer to make it 40-39, but the Captains answered with a 10-2 run to push the lead to nine.
- The Tigers made the score 62-57 on a free throw by junior guard Zac Ditzel with 2:31 remaining before the hosts scored the next six points to earn the win.
GAME NOTES
- Muhammad led the Tigers with 18 points (8-of-15), adding two blocks and a steal.
- Junior guard Brody Brown and first-year forward Nigel Pierman each added nine points for RIT.
- Josiah Turner, a graduate-student forward, scored eight points to go along with a team-best eight rebounds.
- Ditzel, who finished with 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, was named to the All-Classic Team after scoring 21 points and hauling in 13 rebounds through the two games for the Tigers.
- The result drops RIT's record to 3-5 through eight games.
WHAT'S NEXT
RIT returns home this Saturday (Jan. 3) when the Tigers entertain Union in a Liberty League match-up at 3 p.m.
