Riley Naclerio scored 17 points, grabbed five rebounds and five steals to lead the St. Lawrence University men's basketball team to an 80-65 win over RIT in Liberty League play on Saturday afternoon at Burkman Gymnasium.

Naclerio, who shot 6-for-10 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the arc, now has 1,409 career points and surpassed Drew Skonberg '79 and Tom Wopperer '09 for sixth place on the Saints' all-time scoring list. Luke Hicks shot 7-for-9 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the 3-point line and finished with 16 points and four rebounds.

The Saints got an early jump on the Tigers, but RIT managed to tie the game at six and again at 17 through the opening part of the first half. Kevin Murray went 2-for-2 from the line to give the Saints a 10-point advantage with 5:20 to play and St. Lawrence extended its lead to 42-17 at the break.

A layup from Naclerio gave the Saints a 21-point lead just minutes into the second half and the Saints maintained their double-digit advantage through the remainder of the game for their third straight win.

The Tigers and the Saints each scored 38 points in the second half, but the Tigers were unable to overcome the first half deficit and mount a comeback.

"After three weekends on the road, it was great to get back with a 2-0 weekend at home," said head coach Chris Downs. "It was a total team effort this weekend. We know the rivalry game on Tuesday is going to be a huge challenge."



Master Radford went 5-for-7 from the floor to lead the Tigers with 10 points and a team-high six rebounds, while Curtis Nesbit and Matt Anderson recorded eight points each.

The Saints shot 53.2% from the floor and held the Tigers to 48.1% shooting. The Scarlet and Brown also recorded 27 points off turnovers and 32 points off the bench.

St. Lawrence improved to 14-6 on the season and 11-2 in conference play, while the Tigers fell to 5-14 and 2-10.  

The Saints will travel to neighboring Clarkson on Tuesday, February 5 for the second half of the Route 11 rivalry. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.