ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT men's basketball earned a narrow 81-80 win over Hobart, Friday night. The Tigers outscored the Statesmen 48–43 in the second half and held off a late Hobart rally to pick up the victory.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• RIT took its first lead at 13–12 when junior guard Zac Ditzel made a layup with 13:05 left in the first half.
• The Tigers trailed 37–33 at halftime but opened the second half with a three-pointer from graduate student forward Jackson Otis to cut the deficit to one point.
• Josiah Turner, a graduate student forward, made a pair of fast-break layups that helped swing the momentum as RIT took a 45–44 lead with 14:58 remaining.
• First-year forward Nigel Pierman drained a three-pointer with 11:52 left to put the Tigers ahead 50–49, part of a 14–6 run that established a two-possession lead.
• RIT extended the advantage to 61–50 after back-to-back buckets by sophomore guard Danny Cohen and Pierman with eight minutes left.
• Hobart rallied late, but junior guard Brody Brown sank four clutch free throws in the closing minutes, and Ditzel added two more with nine seconds left to make it 79–74.

 
GAME NOTES

• Pierman totaled 14 points and seven rebounds, while Ditzel added a team-high 15 points.
• Brown and Turner each finished with 12 points for the Tigers.
• RIT's bench contributed 31 points, giving the Tigers a significant advantage over Hobart's six bench points.
• RIT improves to 5–13 overall and 2–9 in Liberty League play.

 
WHAT'S NEXT
RIT returns to action tomorrow (Jan. 31) when the Tigers host Ithaca at 4 p.m. inside Clark Gymnasium.