The men’s basketball team faced off against a pair of division rivals last weekend, playing the Skidmore Thoroughbreds on Friday and the Union Dutchmen on Saturday.
Rensselaer came out strong against Skidmore in the first half, led by Jared Hite, Tom Shneider, and Paris Moore. The Red Hawks took an eight point lead into halftime.
The Thoroughbreds came back strong in the second half, shooting 62.5 percent from the floor while holding the Red Hawks to a paltry 28.6 percent. Skidmore held RPI to 21 points, and went on to win the game 73-63.
Hite led the way scoring for the Red Hawks, notching 23 points and pulling down seven rebounds. Paris Moore and Schneider each contributed 11 points.
The Red Hawks looked to rebound from the loss and traveled to Union to take on the first place Dutchmen. Rensselaer ran with Dutchmen in the first half, only trailing by two points at halftime.
The game ground down to a 68-68 tie, after Union hit two free throws to tie up the game. RPI led by five with four minutes left in overtime, but the Dutchmen flew back to tie up the game on the wings of foul shots.
Union carried their momentum into the second overtime, and went up by five with three and a half minutes left in the second OT. Rensselaer’s John Van Schaick hit a three to cut Union’s lead to two, and promptly drained another to put the Red Hawks up by one. Union only managed two more points, and RPI stunned the first place Dutchmen 91-86.
Van Schaick led the Red Hawks in the overtime periods and in the game, knocking down 27 points. Paris Moore again had 22 points; Hite had 21 points and pulled down 14 boards.
The Red Hawks are now 11-11 overall and 5-6 in conference. They will travel to Hobart and Hamilton this weekend to close out their UCAA schedule.
