On November 27, the Red Hawks hosted Williams College, hoping to break an eight-game losing streak against the Ephs. The reigning ECAC-New England champions put a damper on those plans, though, routing RPI in the second half to come out of the Armory with a 62-47 victory.

Head Coach Mike Griffin said that the Red Hawks “played fairly well, but not well enough to beat a really good team.”

Rensselaer played solid defense in the first half, holding the Ephs to 21.9 percent shooting from the floor—only the large number of free throws (14, nine made) taken by Williams kept the game close.

Turnovers brought the Ephs back to life in the second half—the Red Hawks gave the ball away 12 times, allowing Williams to get into an offensive rhythm.

Rensselaer, on the other hand, stalled after halftime, scoring only 19 points to the Ephs’ 38. Jared Hite, the Red Hawks’ leading scorer, was held to zero points in 27 minutes of action. Co-captains Kyle Kornelis and Dean Pierce stepped it up, with 14 and 10 points, respectively, and Hite grabbed 10 rebounds, but it was not enough to overcome the late surge by Williams.

Friday’s game at MIT started out even better for the Red Hawks, as the defense shut down MIT’s shooters, who went six-for-21 in the first half. Rensselaer went to the locker room with a 10-point advantage, and could have been ahead much more—the Red Hawks shot only 35 percent in the half.

In the second half, though, the home team’s offense exploded for 49 points, getting good penetration into the paint to create openings in the RPI defense. MIT’s perimeter shooting was especially deadly—they hit nine of 13 three-point shots in the second half. The Red Hawks, on the other hand, continued to struggle, especially from the foul line, and allowed the Engineers from Cambridge to escape with a 68-62 win.

Hite turned in his third double-double in five games with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Co-Captain Darryl Gentry contributed 13 to the cause.

Between the two games, Rensselaer was only 17-for-36 from the free-throw line, and allowed their opponents to outscore them 87-52 in the second half. Griffin said he was very disappointed with the play of his team, and expects there to be “substantial competition for playing time” in the games to come.

The Red Hawks will play at home against St. Joseph’s on Saturday. Over break, they have two games in Virginia at the Randolph Macon Tournament and they will also play at Stevens Tech on January 5. Griffin said that these games will help to prepare the team for the opening weekend of UCAA play, which will also be on the road. Rensselaer plays Hamilton on January 11 and Hobart—who beat RPI in the conference finals last year—on January 12.