In the first game against Vassar, the team took the court thinking that they would have an easy time with a team they had beaten without much effort previously. But, the Brewers had regained the services of star player Tirek Gayle. His presence on the court seem to lift the outlook of the Brewers.

After a frustrating first half the Red Hawks only trailed 27-25.

In the second half, Rensselaer gained momentum, as they got into their running game a bit more. But the Brewers continued to scrap and remained close.

The Red Hawks had the lead in the late going, but couldn’t connect from the free-throw line. This gave the Brewers one last chance. They needed to inbound the ball and go the length of the court and score to tie the game.

Vassar hit the court following a time out and RPI appeared to be still matching up when the play began. The Brewers advanced the ball all the way to half court with one pass, and then Gayle got the ball in the block and scored a basket while being fouled. He would have one shot from the free throw line to win the game. Coach Mike Griffin called time out in order to ice the shooter, and the plan worked as Gayle’s shot hit the rim.

In OT, the Red Hawks still didn’t have great energy, and had to stop the Brewers from scoring as time ran out.

In the second OT, the Red Hawks finally seemed to have the upper hand, and were able to convert plays and make some stops against the Brewers. In the end, Rensselaer converted their free throws and walked away with an 89-85 double OT win.

Tri-Captain Bobby Hurley led the way in scoring with 22, while connecting on 10 of 12 from the free-throw line. Tri-Captain Tom Carrk was seven of 11 from the field for 18 points, while Forward Dean Pierce totaled 11. Rookie Forward Jared Hite continued his strong play with 14 points and seven rebounds.

On Friday the Red Hawks took on archrival Union. The Red Hawks season was virtually saved by a win over the Dutchmen last month. In Friday’s game the winner would have the inside track for hosting a UCAA tournament game.

The Red Hawks came out flat once again and trailed 8-2. Union maintained a 6 to 8 point lead for much of the first half. With 2:29 left to go in the first half and the Red Hawks trailing 32-24, the Red Hawks went on a run. The Red Hawks scored the last five points of the half to trail 32-29 at the intermission.

The Dutchmen came out strong at the start of the second half and scored the first couple of baskets before the Red Hawks responded. Then with 14:24 to go and Union leading 40-36, Rensselaer went on a 11-4 run which would propel them to a 47-42 advantage with 8:49 left on the clock. The Red Hawks would never trail again, but there would be some tense moments including a questionable technical on Carrk.

The Dutchmen got two free throws and the ball and Rensselaer lost the defensive services of Carrk, who had been holding Union’s Aaron Guiletta at bay all evening. Union then started pressing the Red Hawks full court, but this proved ineffective as the Rensselaer broke through for several lay-ups en route to their 65-57 win.

Guard Darryl Gentry had 11 points to lead a well balanced RPI attack. Forward Kyle Kornelis also had 11 and added six boards in providing a great spark off the bench. Forward Khalil Fitzgerald grabbed 14 rebounds in 18 minutes of play, lifting the Red Hawks.

On Saturday, the Red Hawks started by honoring their seven seniors and then proceeded to beat Skidmore in a ragged game.

The Red Hawks jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the early going, but couldn’t seem to get a real run going, and thus the pesky Thoroughbreds managed to hang around.

The Thoroughbreds also used a zone defense to slow down the fast-paced RPI attack. Eventually, the Red Hawks began to break this down by attacking the seams.

In the end, Skidmore simply ran out of gas against the deep RPI squad.

Forward Doug Ullrich had a strong game with 14 points and eight boards and played a big part in lifting the Red Hawks’ energy level. He also took several defensive charges. Carrk had another strong game with 13, as he won Guard of the Week honors in the UCAA. Hurley was en fuego from 3-point land as he hit four out of six for 12 points.

With these three wins in hand, the Red Hawks turned their attention to defeating Union in a UCAA playoff game. This time, if the Red Hawks didn’t win, their season would be over.

The Red Hawks took the court and had a greater amount of energy than they did on Friday. But, after scoring at will on the Dutchmen and stopping them several times on defense, the Red Hawks went to sleep and trailed at the half by seven, 35-28. The 35 first- half points is the most that the Red Hawks had allowed in a while.

At the half, Coach Griffin challenged his team to hold the Dutchmen under 70 for the game, saying that if they didn’t the season was over.

The Red Hawks responded with a run to start the second half, in which they took the lead. But the desperate Dutchmen managed to bounce back and take an 8-point lead.

Rensselaer then got an energy lift when rookie Forward Jared Hite threw down a high-flying two hand jam. This sent the Armory into a frenzy and the Red Hawks responded with a 12-0 run that was keyed by two 3-pointers from Gentry.

"This was the best win of the season for us,"said Griffin.

Ullrich led the scoring with 14 points and also had eight boards. Gentry finished with 13 including three of four from beyond the arc. Hurley added 12 and was also three of four from downtown.