The University of Rochester men's basketball team used an extended 26-5 run spanning over ten minutes at the end of the first half to midpoint of the second half to pull away from visiting RIT for a 69-49 victory on Tuesday evening at the Louis Alexander Palestra.

Rochester, ranked #22 in the latest Division III poll, closes out non-conference play with a 9-2 record, while RIT moves to 4-5 on the season.  UR kicks off University Athletic Association play with a road test at Emory University on Saturday at noon.

The Yellowjackets were led by junior Jacob Wittig who scored a game-high 16 points, adding five rebounds and four assists.  Three other players scored in double-figures for UR, with Patrick Benka adding 12 and Tucker Knox and Michael Mangan each scoring 10.

RIT's leading scorer was Will Atkinson who sank five 3-pointers off the bench for 15 points.  Troy Pierre-Louis added eight points and three assists while Wyatt Smith added five points.

Although RIT did not earn a lead all game long, the contest was tight throughout the opening 18 minutes, with UR only leading 23-20.  Neither team shot exceptionally well in that stretch, with both under 40% from the floor.

Rochester turned it on though, with a 7-0 spurt to close to half, heading to the break with a 10-point lead at 30-20.

RIT scored five of eight points to start the second half, but then UR scored the next 16 points to blow the game open.  The Yellowjackets shot 6-7 and made two triples over the four and half minute stretch while RIT was 0-8, with Knox scoring all ten of his points in the run.

A total of 12 different Yellowjackets scored in the game, with all 15 players dressed entering the game.  Overall as a team, UR shot 45.3 percent from the floor (24-53) and made seven 3-pointers on the night.  Comparatively, RIT ended at just 27.6 percent shooting (16-58) and sank six shots from long range.