ROCHESTER, NY – Graduate student Logan Blankenberg scored a career-high 33 points and added 12 rebounds as the Nazareth men's basketball team cruised to an 86-70 victory over RIT in the Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout on Saturday night at St. John Fisher. Blankenberg earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
 
Nazareth moves to 2-2 with the win and RIT is now 1-2.
 
Three players for Nazareth were in double figures after the first half in Blankenberg (21 points), Tyler Putney (12 points) and Jaylen Savage (10 points). Blankenberg was 7-for-9 in the opening half, including 5-for-6 from downtown, to pace Nazareth with 21 points.
 
Nazareth started slow, falling behind 15-5 before settling in. 
 
Blankenberg gave Nazareth the lead for a good on a 3-pointer to make it 36-34 with 3:23 to play. The Ontario, NY native had a previous career-high of 21 points against Sage on February 18, 2023. He was 12-for-15 from the field and 7-for-8 from 3-point range in the game.

Each team shot 50 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes. 
 
RIT cut the lead to 59-54 with 12:15 to play but Nazareth used a 10-2 run to build a lead of 69-56. Nazareth had the final six points of that run on a Savage layup, a Jordan Haggard tip-in, and a Solomon McFarland steal and bucket to make it 69-56 with 8:50 to play. RIT never came within 10 points the rest of the way and Nazareth led by as many as 18 points.
 
Savage finished the game with 13 points and six rebounds. Haggard closed out with 10 points and seven rebounds. Luke Insley led the way with six assists. 

Nazareth returns to the court on Tuesday, traveling to Oswego for a 6 p.m. tip.