Comeback Effort Falls Short For Wells Men's Basketball

The Wells College men's basketball team rallied back from a double-digit deficit to tie the game in the second half, but came out on the short end of an 87-66 score against the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers on Thursday, Dec. 8 at the Schwartz Center.

Wells trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half, before the Express cut into the margin and faced a 14-point deficit at halftime as RIT led 49-35.

The Express increased their pressure over the opening 10 minutes of the second half. After RIT scored the opening basket of the second half, Wells scored 24 of the next 32 points and tied the game 59-59. The run was highlighted by an alley-oop dunk by Fernando Johnson on a pass from Ayodele Akimola following an RIT timeout. Tyree Fisher's 3-pointer tied the score with 9:44 remaining.

RIT answered the run and pulled away down the stretch for the victory.

Akinmola scored 18 points to lead the Express and Johnson added 11 points. Tyree Fisher was 3-for-3 from behind the 3-point line and finished with a career-high nine points. Rich Ross had seven points, eight assists and three steals.

David Dames had six blocked shots in the game, one shy of the program's all-time single-game record of seven held by Mabior Mayen.

Wells stands at 4-3 through its first seven games of the season and will carry a winning record into the holiday break. The Express returns to action Jan. 3, 2017 at New York University.