RIT led 38-34 at the half and opened up the lead to as many as 18 points, 65-43, on a Brian Hill (Wheatland-Chili/Rochester, N.Y.) layup after outscoring the Hawks 25-11 over the first nine and a half minutes of the second half.
Hartwick switched to a small, pressing lineup to fight its way back into the game.
The Hawks forced six RIT turnovers in the next six and a half minutes, and Hartwick took a 77-76 lead on Alex Lanfear’s (Lake George/Lake George, N.Y.) steal and lay up with 3:57 left in regulation.
The teams see-sawed through the next four minutes. The Tigers grabbed an 86-84 lead after two free throws from center Tim Bacon (Massena/Massena, N.Y.) with 1:18 left in regulation, but the Hawks tied the game when freshman forward Albe Hulick (Greenville/Greenville, N.Y.) rebounded a missed shot and made the follow up lay up to tie the game at 86-all with 4.5 seconds to play.
RIT pushed the ball down the floor and Tyler Springer (M-E/Endwell, N.Y.) looked like he had a lay up to win the game, but Hartwick freshman forward Ramond Doyley (Yonkers/Yonkers, N.Y.) swept in from the weak side with a decisive block of Springer’s shot to preserve the tie and force the extra period.
In overtime, RIT took an early lead, when Springer connected on a three-point try from the right wing on the first possession of overtime.
Hartwick tied the game at 90-all with 1:57 to play on a jump shot by freshman guard Jan Cocozziello (Westfield/Westfield, N.J.).
RIT held the Hawks scoreless for the final two minutes. Hill’s layup wth 53 seconds left gave the Tigers a 92-90 lead, and Barrett Zienfield (Catalina Foothills/Tuscon, Az.) made four straight free throws to ice the win for the Tigers.
Hartwick was led by a career-high 34 points from Cocozziello, who scored 25 of his points in the second half and overtime. Freshman guard A.J. Beaulieu (Portsmouth Abbey/Chicopee, Mass.) added a career-best 17 for Hartwick.
Bacon finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Tigers, with Zeinfeld adding 21. Fran Snyder (Bishop Timon/Buffalo, N.Y.) and Hill each had 16.
Hartwick falls to 9-13 overall, 3-8 in the Empire 8. RIT improves to 14-9, 8-4 in the E8.
RIT 96, HARTWICK COLLEGE 90 RIT (14-9, 8-4 E8) Tim Bacon 10-13 3-6 23; Barrett Zeinfeld 6-10 4-4 21; Fran Snyder 6-15 2-3 16; Brian Hill 6-9 4-6 16; Tyler Springer 3-6 1-4 8; Drew Martin 1-6 2-2 4; Kris Kowalczyk 1-3 0-0 3; Rick Whitwood 1-1 0-0 3; Rob Hampton 1-1 0-0 2; Cameron Youngblood 0-1 0-0 0; Colin Roy 0-3 0-0 0; Mark Carson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-69 16-26 96. HARTWICK COLLEGE (9-13, 3-8 E8) COCOZZIELLO, Jan 11-20 9-11 34; BEAULIEU, A.J. 6-11 2-2 17; HULICK, Albe 4-6 0-0 9; MONTANA, John 3-3 0-0 9; LANFEAR, Alex 2-3 3-5 7; RYAN, Kevin 1-1 3-4 6; BANKOWSKI, Greg 1-2 3-4 5; DUNNIGAN, Pat 1-4 0-0 3; MacKENZIE, Josh 0-1 0-0 0; KINDLON, Tim 0-7 0-0 0; DOYLEY, Ramond 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 20-26 90. RIT........................... 38 48 10 - 96 Hartwick College.............. 34 52 4 - 90 3-point goals-RIT 10-22 (Barrett Zeinfeld 5-9; Fran Snyder 2-4; Rick Whitwood 1-1; Kris Kowalczyk 1-2; Tyler Springer 1-3; Colin Roy 0-1; Drew Martin 0-2), Hartwick College 12-29 (MONTANA, John 3-3; COCOZZIELLO, Jan 3-8; BEAULIEU, A.J. 3-4; DUNNIGAN, Pat 1-4; RYAN, Kevin 1-1; HULICK, Albe 1-2; KINDLON, Tim 0-6; LANFEAR, Alex 0-1). Fouled out--RIT-None, Hartwick College-DOYLEY, Ramond. Rebounds-RIT 44 (Tim Bacon 15), Hartwick College 28 (COCOZZIELLO, Jan 4; HULICK, Albe 4). Assists-RIT 20 (Colin Roy 7), Hartwick College 12 (KINDLON, Tim 3; COCOZZIELLO, Jan 3). Total fouls-RIT 20, Hartwick College 26. A-125