From University of Rochester Athletics
The University of Rochester men's basketball team used a strong
performance on the boards to overcome a less than stellar shooting
performance to top the College at Brockport 59-50 in the first
round of the Wendy's College Classic on Wednesday evening.
Top seeded Rochester (4-2) moves on in the local college tournament
to face 4th seeded Roberts Wesleyan College at RIT while Brockport
will play Hobart in the consolation games at UR on Friday.
UR pulled down a season high 52 rebounds, led by junior Dylan
Peretz grabbing a career high 20 boards, 13 on the offensive
glass. The rebounds helped offset Rochester's 29.4% shooting
from the floor (20-68), a season low.
It was a strong start for the Yellowjackets, especially on the
offensive glass. Five early offensive boards helped Rochester
out to a 14-5 lead five minutes into the contest. Peretz
contributed with five points and nine rebounds (five offensive) in
the first half.
UR built its early lead on with a 20-6 run over eight minutes until
midway through the half. The 'Jackets led by as many as 15 in
the period, sitting at 28-13 with 7:23 left.
Brockport (1-4) struggled to find its shooting touch, even on its
home floor, missing 14 of its first 20 shots (30%). For the
half, the Golden Eagles shot 9-28 (32%) compared to Rochester's
13-32 (40.6%).
Overall, seven different players scored for Rochester in the first
20 minutes with sophomore Sam-Borst Smith leading the way with nine
points. Mack Montague hit two treys with Jared Seltzer adding
in six points. Rochester held a big advantage on the boards
as well, outrebounding the Golden Eagles 34-22.
Both teams came out cold in the second half, with UR going 1-for-10
and the Golden Eagles shooting 3-for-10 out of the break.
The Golden Eagles trimmed the lead to as little as four twice in
the second half, but the Yellowjacket size inside allowed for
numerous second chance points to build the lead back out to
double-digits with under five minutes remaining. For the
contest, Rochester scored 28 second chance points behind 29
offensive rebounds while Brockport scored just 11 2nd chance
points.
UR's leading scorer was Borst-Smith with 14 points while Peretz
finished with a double-double with 10 points to go along with his
20 rebounds. Seltzer was the only other Yellowjacket in
double-figures with 10 points as well.
For Brockport, the tournament's defending champion, Pat Modzelewski
led the Golden Eagles with 15 points while Clifton Lyerly added 11
points off the bench.