The Red Hawks were coming off a harrowing weekend in which they lost a close game to Clarkson and then got run out of the building by St. Lawrence. These losses left the team desperately in need of wins. Entering this past weekend, the team was 1-4 in the UCAA and seemed to have little chance or even hope of hosting a UCAA tournament game.

With the mentality of a cornered rat, the Red Hawks took to the floor at Union and got off to a slow start. The Dutchmen came out and scored several buckets to go up early.

But the Red Hawks were lifted by the play of Junior Dean Pierce, who returned to the starting lineup after battling several injuries. Pierce played tough up front and helped the Red Hawks clear the boards of defense.

Clearing the boards on defense was a big job, as the Red Hawks went to work slowing down the dangerous Union offense managing to hold them to 38 percent shooting for the game.

The lead was never more than a few points for either team, and at the half, the score stood at 36-35.

In the second half, the Red Hawks continued to play solid defense, but had a tougher time scoring from the field. The Red Hawks did manage to capitalize at the free throw line where they connected on 12 of 17 shots.

Down the stretch, it appeared that the deeper bench of the Red Hawks had simply worn down the Dutchmen, who continued to come up short on jump shots.

This allowed the Red Hawks to net a few key baskets, including a dunk by Senior Khalil Fitzgerald. Senior Tri-Captain Tom Carrk was driving the baseline, when he spotted Fitzgerald cutting down the middle. He fed the big man who slammed the ball home, bringing the few RPI fans in attendance to their feet.

When the final horn sounded, the Red Hawks walked away with a 70-64 win that may have saved their season.

Pierce led a balanced scoring attack with 13, while Senior Tri-Captain Bobby Hurley had 11 points and seven assists. Carrk was six for eight from the free throw line, many of them down the stretch, to finish with 10. Senior Doug Ullrich also added 10. Junior Kyle Kornelis came off the bench to connect for 8 points.

On Saturday, the Red Hawks had two initial concerns. First, they didn’t want to have a letdown after their big win. Secondly, they were facing Ryan Culkin, the UCAA leading scorer at 22.4 points per game.

The first half proved to be a see saw battle, with Culkin hitting some tough shots for the Thoroughbreds. Junior Darryl Gentry was playing stingy defense on Culkin when he picked up his second foul. Coach Mike Griffin then turned to Senior Rodney McLean, who came on to provide some several minutes of strong defense against Culkin, while providing some sparks on offense. The Red Hawks continued to play solid team defense and started creating more points on offense to lead 33-29 at the half.

The second half started out the same, but with a little under 10 minutes to go, the Thoroughbreds made a run and took a seven point lead, 55-48. The Red Hawks called a timeout and came out refocused. From this point on, the Red Hawks’ offense found their way to the basket much more frequently, while the defense became even tighter than it had been earlier. The team went on a 23-4 run and a 71-59 victory.

This was a much needed win for the Red Hawks, as it put them back in the hunt for hosting a UCAA playoff game. The Red Hawks also found their defense, which was missing much of last weekend. Additionally, the team has improved at putting the ball in the basket.

A big chunk of that offense came from Hurley, who connected on four of his seven shots from 3-point range to finish with 20 points. Ullrich was not far behind, as he went eight for nine from the field en route to 18 points. Defensive stopper Gentry showed his all around skills, netting 10 points on offense, while Pierce also added 10 and Fitzgerald collected 10 boards.