Rochester, N.Y.--Despite scoring 13 points in the final two minutes of play and cutting a 12-point lead to just two, the men's basketball team fell 77-73 to Rochester Institute of Technology (8-10, 4-5 Empire 8) Sunday afternoon. Junior Phil Barera (Belmont/Belmont, Mass.) picked up a double-double for the Bombers (13-6, 6-4 Empire 8) with 21 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.

Ithaca was down by 11 at 72-61 with 1:49 to play in the game. A three-pointer from freshman Eli Maravich (Chartiers Valley/Pittsburgh, Pa.) cut the lead to eight before a pair of Tiger free throws extended the lead back to double digits with 1:27 left on the clock.

Each team went to the line six times in the next minute of play, with the Bombers making all six and the Tigers making just one to bring the score to 75-70. With 17 seconds to play, freshman Andrei Oztemel (Staples/Westport, Conn.) took a pass from classmate Sean Rossi (Sparta/Sparta, N.J.) and made a three-point field goal to cut the RIT lead to just two.

After Ithaca fouled to stop the clock, the Tigers made their final two free throws to make it a two-possession game. The Bombers could not score on their final possession.

The two teams played closely to open the game, and were tied at 33 with two minutes to play in the first half. RIT netted the final seven points of the period to take a 40-33 advantage into halftime.

A jumper by Barera cut the Tiger lead to jsut two with over 13 minutes to play in the game, but RIT went on 16-2 run to increase its lead back to double figures. The Tigers held a double digit lead until Ithaca cut it to eight with three minutes to play.

Oztemel and Rossi joined Barera in scoring double figures, tallying 18 and 13 points, respectively. Oztemel was 4-of-7 from three-point range off the bench. Rossi led all players with nine assists.

The Bombers next compete Friday, when they take on Alfred at 8 p.m.

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