PALESTRA – The University of Rochester men's basketball team got its 2021-22 season off to a winning start, defeating visiting SUNY Geneseo 68-56 on Tuesday evening at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
UR (1-0), playing at home for the first time in 619 days, used a balanced scoring effort to earn the victory, with 10 different players recording at least one point. That included the bench scoring over half of the teams points, with UR's reserves outscoring Geneseo's 39-8.
Andrew Jackson was Rochester's leading scorer with 14 points, shooting 6-of-9 from the floor. Ross Gang Scored 11 points to go with six rebounds and three assists, while Matt Niemczura added 10 points. Rochester also held a big rebound advantage, grabbing 45 boards to Geneseo's 25.
Geneseo (0-1) was led by Michael Gannon who poured in a game-high 26 points, also registering eight rebounds and six 3-pointers. Terrance Nichols chipped in 10 points with six boards while Harrison Dignan had 6 points, 11 assists and 4 steals.
Leading 6-5 four minutes into the game, Rochester used a 10-0 run to open up its first double-digit lead of the contest. Gang notched two layups while Dan Masino added a 3-pointer in the stretch.
3-pointers kept Geneseo within range during the later stages of the first half. With under five minutes to play, the Knights sank triples on three of five possessions to trim UR's lead to four, trailing 31-27.
Dignan added a free throw to get the lead down to three before Rochester closed the half scoring the final eight points to head to intermission up 39-28.
During the first four minutes of the second half, the teams traded baskets, with Rochester keeping its lead at six leading 43-37 following a layup from Kevin Ranaghan.
Over the next four and a half minutes though, Rochester would embark on a 14-3 run which boosted the Yellowjacket lead to a game-high 17 points with ten minutes left. Jackson poured in eight of his points during the run, with Mitchell Kershner scoring four and Gang adding two.
UR's defense would able to maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the game and cruise to the opening night victory. Overall, Geneseo shot better from 3-point range (44.4%) than they did from inside the arc (28.1%). Rochester meanwhile, ended the game shooting nearly 50% from the floor at 27-57 (47.4%).
Rochester is back in action on Friday when the Yellowjackets, in conjunction with the UR women's team, hosts the annual Chuck Resler Invitational. The four-team men's event features UR, Southern Virginia, Houghton and SUNY Cortland. Rochester takes on SUNY Cortland in the 6 pm contest, while earlier in the afternoon, Houghton plays Southern Virginia at 1 pm.