University of Rochester men's basketball defeated the 18th-ranked Trinity (TX) University Tigers, 78-63, in a battle of ranked foes in the Chuck Resler Tournament Championship Game on Saturday at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
Ryan Algier was named the Resler Tournament MVP after tallying 32 points over UR's two wins, while Ross Gang earned All-Tournament honors, falling three rebounds and an assist shy of a triple-double against the Tigers.
 
Gang nailed a triple to start the Yellowjackets off in the first half, as UR started the game red-hot from three, knocking down eight three-pointers in the opening period.
 
After Ben Hanley tied it and Tanner Brown's three gave Trinity their first and only lead, Ryan Algier leveled the score with a layup, before knocking down a pair of free throws to give Rochester a 7-5 lead just under four minutes into the first half.
 
C.J. Amsellem and Matt Niemczura then connected on an alley-oop to put UR up four, and back-to-back three-pointers from Niemczura and T.C. Price brought the 'Jackets' lead out to seven, 15-8, seven minutes into the half.
 
Trinity would cut the lead down to three and then two on Hanley's triple, but Rochester would hold the Tigers to just five points over the next 5:15, extending their lead out to 34-20.
 
The Yellowjackets outscored their foes from Texas, 17-5 over that stretch, as Andrew Jackson, Dan Masino and Mitchell Kershner all connected from beyond the arc, while Algier converted three layups down low.
 
Down 14 with five and a half to play, Trinity doubled up the Yellowjackets over the next 3:40, cutting a 14-point lead down to 10, 38-28, with 1:50 left in the first, but Gang's triple brought UR's lead back out to double digits, and Rochester headed into the locker room with a 12-point, 42-30 lead.
 
The Tigers made a run to start the second half, cutting the deficit to single digits for the first time since 8:01 left in the first.
 
Six points from Hanley, including back-to-back layups, cut Rochester's lead down to eight, 48-40, with 15:44 to play, but the 'Jackets responded with a run of their own, bringing their lead back out to double digits on Matt Wiele's and-one following Algier's alley-oop from Gang.
 
And then with just under 11 minutes remaining, Rochester really turned the jets on, racing out to an 18-point lead behind a 13-4 run, capped by an emphatic, fast-break dunk by Logan Jagodzinski, as well as an alley-oop from Gang.
 
Trinity answered with a run, scoring seven in a row over the next minute to cut UR's lead down to 11, but again Rochester weathered the storm, answering with a 9-0 run of their own.
 
The 'Jackets held Trinity scoreless over the next 2:27, finishing off an emphatic victory over the 18th-ranked Tigers as they took their largest lead of the game, 78-58, on Gang's made free throw with 2:56 to play.
 
Kershner's triple with 5:16 remaining keyed the run, and Niemczura's three-point play got the crowd on its feet, as the Yellowjackets finished off a 78-63 victory, securing their second-straight Resler title.
 
No. 11 Rochester moves to 3-0 with the win, while the 18th-ranked Tigers fall to 1-1 with the loss.
 
Algier led Rochester with 20 points, while Gang added 15 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
 
Defensively, both Algier and Niemczura tallied two blocks and two steals.
 
As a team, Rochester shot 49.2 percent, including 50.0 percent (15-for-30) in the second half, as well as 61.5 percent from beyond the arc in the first half.
 
The Yellowjackets will look to keep things rolling when they take on St. John Fisher University in the Marks Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout, hosted by RIT, on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. in Henrietta, NY.