ROCHESTER, N.Y.--Brendan McAllister led a quartet of double digit scorers with 17 points and the University of Rochester shot 56.6% from the field while out-rebounding Union 34-19 as the Yellowjackets defeated the Dutchmen, 79-61, in the second round of the NCAA Division III basketball tournament at the Palestra.

The Dutchmen ended the season at 17-12, their seventh consecutive winning season.  The NCAA invitation was the Garnet's sixth under ninth-year head coach Bob Montana.

The 22-4 Yellowjackets, who have been to the NCAA tournament the last four yearsall of which have seen the Jackets advance to the Sweet 16and 10 times overall, put the game away by scoring 17 of the game's first 23 points to open the second half while building a 61-41 lead with just 5:12 off the clock.   McAllister did most of the damage as he scored eight points during the run.

"Once again we had to make a choice," explained Montana.  "Their inside game is real good with (6'6 Seth) Hauben, who is a two-time All-American, and (6'7 freshman Jon) Onyiriuka.  When you try to match-up in order to take away that strength underneath you're going to give up something else.  We had hopped they wouldn't shoot it as well as they did."

Rochester opened the game by scoring their first five baskets from underneath before switching to a sizzling outside game that enabled it to take a 42-32 lead into the break.  While the Dutchmen shot a more than respectable 50% from the field during the opening 20 minutes (13-of-26), the Jackets scorched the net by hitting 17-of-27 field goals (63%) including an eight-for-13 effort from three-point range (61.5%).  Burnt Hills High School graduate, freshman guard Jeff Juron, led the hosts with 11 points while former Guilderland High standout, senior forward Bruce Devon, led Union with his 10 markers.

Freshman forward Kyle Grimm scored from beyond the arch off junior guard Chris Murphy's pass to pull the Dutchmen to within one, 13-12, with 12:59 left before Juron connected on back-to-back tres and added a pair of free throws to make it 21-16 at 11:29.  A layup and two charity shots by junior guard John Cagianello kept Union in the hunt before Grimm converted a Bruce pass for three with Bruce scoring from underneath to tie the game at 21-21 with 9:59 left.

That's when Rochester really began to light things up as it scored eight of the game's next 11 points with Juron picking up an assist on Brendan McAllister's three-point hoop to make it 30-23 with 5:54 on the clock.  Union came right back however as junior forward Brian Scordato connecting on a driving layup followed by a field goal and one-of-two free throws by Bruce to bring the Dutchmen back to within 30-26 with 4:39 remaining.

"McAllister answered the call," said Montana.  "He put down a bunch of three's (finishing with a five-of-10 effort from beyond the arch) and that stretched out our defense.

Rochester once again responded to the challenge by scoring its next dozen points on three-point baskets.  Tim Brackney buried three consecutive threes before Juron's tres made it 42-32 with 1:01 left in the half.  Cagianello and Gabe Perez traded layups to account for the Yellowjackets' 10-point halftime advantage.

Rochester finished the game shooting  50% from three-point range (13-of-36) while pulling down 11 offensive rebounds.  Juron finished with 14 points with Hauben and Brackney each contributing 13 markers.  Onyiriuka pulled down a game-high seven rebounds while Hauben had six to go along with five assists.  Perez ended with eight points and eight assists.

Bruce led the Dutchmen with 16 points with Cagianello adding 14 and Scordato 10, with a team-high seven rebounds.

"They're a very good team," said Bruce.  "They are very balanced.

"We left it all on the court and we have nothing to be ashamed of," he continued.  "We were the only 15 people who thought we had a chance to win the Liberty League tournament and we were the only ones who thought we had a chance against Gwynedd-Mercy when we wound up pulling off the biggest upset of the tournament (Union won 84-71). 

"I can't be happier, or prouder, with the way I ended my career."