HENRIETTA, NY – Four players scored in double-figures, led by senior Tomiwa Adetosoye's 30 points, but the University of Rochester men's basketball team saw its non-conference schedule wrap up with an 87-83 loss at the hands of host Rochester Institute of Technology on Tuesday evening at Clark Gymnasium.
 
Adetosoye's 30 points established a career-high, but it was RIT's Muhsin Muhammad that stole the show, finishing with a game-high 35 points on the night. The pair went toe-to-toe in what proved to be a tight matchup that featured a second half rally from the Yellowjackets (7-4).
 
Joining Adetosoye in double-figures was sophomore Justin Odibo who had 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point range, Corvin Oprea who had 18 points and Jordan Owusu who chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds.
 
Besides Muhammad scoring over 30 points, Zac Ditzel had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers (4-6). Three other RIT players finished with nine points in the win, which was RIT's first over Rochester in the last 14 matchups.
 
On Tuesday, the Yellowjackets got off to a quick start with Odibo and Oprea hitting back-to-back triples to put the visitors up 6-2. After Muhammad got his first points of the night, Adetosoye hit a pair of free throws before Odibo sank another trey to move the score to 11-4 in favor of URochester.
 
That 7-point lead would be the biggest of the night for the Yellowjackets as RIT rattled off ten straight points to grab a 14-11 lead with 14 minutes left in the opening half. UR went ice cold over the Tiger run, missing all seven shots from the floor, while Muhammad scored eight of the ten RIT points.
 
URochester regained its composure and used an Odibo 4-point play and a layup from Oprea to take a 19-17 lead before Jackson Otis hit an and-one in the paint to give RIT a 1-point cushion at the midway point of the period.
 
Over the last ten minutes of the first half, the Yellowjackets were limited to just two made field goals and were outscored by RIT 27-9, leading to a 44-28 lead for the Tigers at intermission.
 
The second half saw Rochester start quickly again, with a pair of Adetosoye dunks adding to Owusu and Odibo triples for a 10-2 run, cutting the lead down to eight.
 

RIT maintained its advantage though for the next several minutes, even extending the margin back to 13 points following a Xavier Nelson 3-pointer with 12:21 remaining.
 
URochester began to chip away though. Back-to-back three's from Odibo made it a nine-point game at the midway point of the second half. Less than a minute later and after two RIT free throws, John Mayhew hit a jumper and Owusu provided a steal and old-fashioned 3-point play to cut the deficit to six.
 
Leading by six, RIT scored five straight points to regain a double-digit lead with under six minutes on the clock, but Rochester refused to quit, drawing numerous fouls on the Tigers to get back into the game from the charity stripe.
 
Eight of Rochester's next ten points came from the free throw line in a run that moved the lead down five with 3:09 left. The stretch continued in the next minute with Oprea hitting back-to-back buckets inside the paint to make the score 82-81 in favor of RIT.
 
On RIT's next possession, Brody Brown was fouled but missed both ends of the free throw with Oprea securing the rebound.
 
The momentum didn't last though, with Muhammad ripping the ball away and sprinting down the floor for a slam dunk to put RIT back up by three with just over 90 ticks left.
 
Misses at both ends of the floor gave URochester the ball back with under a minute to play, and Owusu converted a layup to move the margin to one yet again.
 
RIT's Ditzel missed a shot inside on the Tigers next possession but a big offensive rebound by Otis allowed RIT to keep possession with the clock ticking down under 20 seconds. Brown was fouled and hit just one of two at the line to keep Rochester within two points and possession of the ball.
 
After a timeout, UR's Mayhew missed a potential go-ahead right wing 3-pointer, with Muhammad securing the rebound. He was fouled and sank both free throws to extend and seal the victory for the Tigers.
 
Overall in the game, Rochester shot just 37.7% from the floor, compared to RIT's 47.8%. The Yellowjackets were 10-for-25 (40.0%) from distance, while RIT made just four triples in 18 tries (22.2%). The Tigers held a big rebound advantage, leading 56 to 32 on the glass.
 
Rochester now turns its focus to the upcoming University Athletic Association conference slate which will make up the remaining 14 games of the Yellowjacket schedule. The UAA competition begins on Saturday afternoon in the Palestra, with URochester hosting 3rd-ranked Emory University.