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Men's Hoops Falls to St. John Fisher in Chase Championship Game

Steve Jaynes - SID

Sean Murphy scored 15 points in a loss to St. John Fisher in the Chase championship, earning All-Tournament team honors.

| 1/15/2005 10:27:35 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY -- In a packed Clark Gymnasium the #3 RIT (7-6) men's basketball team fell to top-seeded St. John Fisher (13-0), 83-64 in the finals of the 2005 JP Morgan Chase Scholarship Tournament. RIT's Sean Murphy (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North) (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North) and Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) were named to the All-Tournament team.

Senior center Jesse Foote (Lockwood, NY/Spencer-Van Ettan) (Lockwood, NY/Spencer-Van Ettan) set the Chase Tournament record for career blocked shots with 30. He broke fellow RIT graduate Charlie Bartlett's old mark of 28 and only needs four blocks to set the RIT career record for blocked shots.

RIT kept it close early in the first half, taking a six-point lead on a layup by Murphy with 17:08 to play.

With 7:33 to play in the opening half RIT tied the score at 22-22 on a three-pointer by freshman Barrett Zeinfeld (Tucson, AZ/Catalina Foothills) (Tucson, AZ/Catalina Foothills).

That would be as close as RIT would get as St. John Fisher showed why they are one of the top-15 teams in Division III, finishing the half with a 19-9 run and a 41-30 lead at the break.

The Tigers shot 40% from the floor in the first half on 10-of-25 shooting. Sean Murphy (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North) and Fran Snyder (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon St. Jude) each had seven points to lead RIT who made 5-of-9 from behind the arc.

RIT tried to stay close in the second half cutting a 12-point lead to nine points on a three-pointer by Snyder who finished with 13 points. The Tigers couldn't get any closer as the Cardinals shot 66.7% from the floor, breaking the game open.

Sean Murphy (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North), who was a first team All-Tournament selection, led RIT with 15 points and six rebounds. He went 6-of-16 from the floor including three, three-pointers.

Snyder was a second-team All-Tournament selection finishing with 13 points, including four three-pointers.

RIT returns to action this Friday when they host Empire 8 foe Ithaca College at 8 p.m. in Clark Gymnasium.