Zeinfeld led four RIT double-figure scorers. Sophomore Tim Bacon (Massena) scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. Junior Fran Snyder (Buffalo/Bishop Timon St. Jude) added 12 points and senior Kyle Goff (Manassas, VA/Stonewall Junction) scored 11 points. Senior Sean Murphy (Buffalo/Williamsville North) contributed nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds, all on the defensive glass.
Senior Justin O'Garrow (Port Washington/Paul D. Schreiber) and junior Simon Skrelja (Hastings-on-Hudson/Hastings) paced Cortland with nine points apiece. O'Garrow also had three assists and two steals and Skrelja registered a game-high three steals.
RIT never trailed in the contest, although Cortland twice cut double-figure deficits to two points. The Tigers led 6-0 three minutes into the game and held a 22-6 advantage on a Zeinfeld three-pointer with 8:46 left in the half. Skrelja's three-pointer and dunk off a steal helped the Red Dragons close back within six points and Cortland trailed by seven, 34-27, at halftime.
An O'Garrow three-pointer and a three-point play by junior Frank Ranieri (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) brought Cortland with 37-35 with 16:55 remaining. Bacon responded with a jumper and back-to-back three-pointers by Snyder and Goff increased the Tigers' lead to 10 points with 14:21 left.
Leading 45-40, RIT used a 10-0 run, including five points by Bacon, to take a 55-40 lead with 10:05 left. Cortland's bench, however, sparked an 11-0 run to get the Red Dragons back in the game. Freshman Quentin Merritt (Brooklyn/Boys & Girls) scored all seven of his points during that streak. A layup by freshman Jamie Procino (Yorktown) with 4:44 drew Cortland within 59-57 and the Red Dragons had a potential game-tying layup attempt miss the mark with 3:43 left. Zeinfeld's jumper pushed the RIT lead to four with 3:11 remaining and a Snyder layup with 2:53 left gave RIT a 63-57 advantage.
Cortland got back to within three points on sophomore Dave Jutton's (Red Hook) three-pointer with 2:26 left, but Murphy's layup and Zeinfeld's three-pointer over the next minute sparked a run that helped put the game away. The Tigers were 6-of-6 from the foul line in the final minute.
Cortland will travel to Daytona Beach, Fla., for the Land of Magic Classic on Dec. 29-30. The Red Dragons will face nationally-ranked NAIA Division II Embry-Riddle, the host school, at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 29 and will play Colby-Sawyer College of New Hampshire at 4 p.m. on Dec. 30.
Rochester Inst. of Tech. vs SUNY Cortland 12/17/04 6 p.m. at Cortland, NY (Corey Gym) ROCHESTER INST. OF TECH. 75, SUNY CORTLAND 65 ROCHESTER INST. OF TECH. (4-3) ZEINFELD, Barrett 6-7 2-2 18; BACON, Tim 6-9 1-2 13; SNYDER, Fran 4-7 2-5 12; GOFF, Kyle 3-8 2-2 11; MURPHY, Sean 4-7 1-2 9; SHORE, Reggie 0-3 4-6 4; FOOTE, Jesse 2-3 0-0 4; MARTIN, Drew 1-3 0-0 2; HILL, Brian 1-1 0-0 2; SPRINGER, Tyler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-49 12-19 75. SUNY CORTLAND (4-3) SKRELJA, Simon 4-8 0-1 9; O'GARROW, Justin 3-8 1-2 9; HEADLEY, Rod 2-8 4-4 8; MERRITT, Quentin 3-5 1-1 7; RANIERI, Frank 3-9 1-1 7; PROCINO, Jamie 3-7 0-0 6; JUTTON, Dave 2-10 0-0 6; JANKIEWICZ, Michael 2-6 1-1 6; KIRCHHOFF, Brian 1-3 2-2 5; FISH, Derrick 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-66 10-12 65. Rochester Inst. of Tech....... 34 41 - 75 SUNY Cortland................. 27 38 - 65 3-point goals-Rochester Inst. of Tech. 9-16 (ZEINFELD, Barrett 4-4; GOFF, Kyle 3-4; SNYDER, Fran 2-3; MARTIN, Drew 0-2; SPRINGER, Tyler 0-1; MURPHY, Sean 0-2), SUNY Cortland 7-22 (JUTTON, Dave 2-10; O'GARROW, Justin 2-5; SKRELJA, Simon 1-1; JANKIEWICZ, Michael 1-2; KIRCHHOFF, Brian 1-1; PROCINO, Jamie 0-1; RANIERI, Frank 0-1; HEADLEY, Rod 0-1). Fouled out--Rochester Inst. of Tech.-None, SUNY Cortland-None. Rebounds-Rochester Inst. of Tech. 42 (MURPHY, Sean 10), SUNY Cortland 24 (KIRCHHOFF, Brian 6). Assists-Rochester Inst. of Tech. 13 (SHORE, Reggie 4), SUNY Cortland 10 (O'GARROW, Justin 3). Total fouls-Rochester Inst. of Tech. 14, SUNY Cortland 18. A-200