CHICAGO – A furious rally by the University of Rochester men's basketball team came up just short as the Yellowjackets fell 90-87 to the University of Chicago in UAA conference play on Friday evening at the Ratner Athletics Center.
 
4th-ranked Rochester (19-2, 8-2 UAA) trailed by as many as 15 points with under six minutes to play in the second half, but mounted a comeback, going on a 19-3 run to pull ahead with 55 seconds remaining following a Tucker Knox 3-pointer.
 
With 5:34 left in the game, UC's Jake Fenlon sank his last three of the game, giving Chicago a 15-point lead.  UR's Sam Borst-Smith then kickstarted the Yellowjacket run with a 3-pointer of his own.  After two 1-2 trips at the charity stripe for Chicago sandwiched two Ryan Clamage free throws, Rochester would score 14 of the next 15 points to surge ahead for the first time since the opening minute.  Andrew Lundstrom scored four points in the run, including a thunderous dunk while Zack Ayers and Knox hit huge 3-pointers, the second of which pulled Rochester in front.
 
Chicago (13-8, 5-5 UAA) was held without a field goal in the last five and half minutes, but made some clutch free throws down the stretch and got stops when they needed them on defense to hold off the Yellowjackets who snapped a six-game win streak.
 
During the game, Rochester was able to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the opening seconds thanks to a Zack Ayers layup, but Chicago controlled the rest of the way up until the final minute.  The Maroons used a strong effort inside in the opening half, and then caught fire from behind the arc in the second half to maintain a double-digit lead for most of the contest.
 
A 10-2 Chicago run built the Maroons biggest lead of the first half to 14 with under four minutes to play, leading 35-21.  But Rochester's 3-point shooting kept the Yellowjackets within striking distance for the remainder of the half.  UR ended up making four three's out of its next five field goals and ultimately headed to intermission trailing by eight, down 45-37.
 

The second half belonged to Chicago guard and Rochester native and Fenlon.  The senior hit six of seven from long range in the final 20 minutes, ending the game with eight treys and 24 total points.  Overall in the second half, Chicago made only 10 field goals, nine of which were 3-pointers with Maroon players getting fouled on two other 3-point attempts leading to four additional points on the scoreboard.
 
Chicago responded by driving inside and drawing fouls on their next two possessions while also stopping the UR offense from scoring.  Tyler Howard and Jordan Baum each went 2-2 from the line to pull the Maroons back up by three with under 20 seconds remaining.
 
Looking to score quick, a pass deflected off of a UR leg with 11 seconds left, ultimately leading to two more Howard free throws to seal the victory.
 
Ayers ended up leading the Yellowjackets in scoring with a career-high 24 points, adding seven rebounds and three 3-pointers.  Borst-Smith scored 20 points while securing 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.  The three steals moves the seniors total to 63 this season, tying him with Terry Fitzgerald for the most in a single-season in UR basketball history.
 
Mack Montague ended with 12 points while Jacob Wittig added nine points and seven assists.  Knox finished with eight points and four rebounds while Clamage chipped in eight points off the bench.
 
Chicago had four players in double-figures with Fenlon's 24 leading the way.  Howard finished with 13 points and Collin Barthel added 12.  Blaine Crawford finished with a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Rochester will look to rebound with a huge matchup against #5 ranked Washington-St. Louis on Sunday afternoon.