The Red Hawks’ first assignment was the Muhlenberg Mules, who were hosting the Scotty Wood Tournament at home in Allentown, Pa. The opening half started with both teams trading baskets—play was evenly matched. RPI would come back to take a short lead, but gave it back after the team went cold from the field. Muhlenberg’s largest lead of the first half was 12, but a lay-up by sophomore Kyle Jung with 38 seconds on the clock put Rensselaer down ten, 33-23, as both teams headed to the break.

RPI expended a lot of energy to get back into the game, but got themselves in position for a comeback in the game’s closing minutes. The deficit was cut to two with 36 seconds left, 60-58, on a three pointer by senior Clay Hadley. Sam Simmons, a junior, tied the game up at 60 with a lay-up while 11 seconds was all that remained on the game clock.

Muhlenberg stormed down the court as the seconds melted away. Chris MacIntosh missed a shot close to the basket, but with one second remaining Justin Fields tipped in the miss and gave the Mules the victory, 62-60, as time expired.

Muhlenberg sophomore Mike Bernardini was the game’s high scorer with 18 points. For the Red Hawks, Simmons had 17 points and four rebounds, Hadley added 13 and five, and freshman Ricky Philatre recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards.

In the consolation game of the tournament, RPI took on Arcadia. Rensselaer trailed in the early going but fought back to take the lead, keeping it for much of the second half. Late game heroics, however, made this another difficult task for the Red Hawks, as Arcadia was determined to not go down without a fight. With less than two minutes left the action began, RPI clinging to a two point lead, 53-51. Arcadia then tied the game ten seconds later on a lay-up by Dave Boettcher.

Simmons reclaimed the lead for Rensselaer on a lay-up with 1:21 remaining. Arcadia then tied the game up once more with 15 seconds remaining. RPI called a timeout with four seconds left on the clock to gather themselves, and coming out of the huddle, the designed play worked to perfection as Simmons knocked down a jumper at the buzzer to give the Red Hawks their first win of the season. Simmons finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Kevin Brown of Arcadia led all scorers with 17. Both players were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The men then returned home for their opener in Troy against Mount Saint Mary College. RPI trailed in the early going with a seven-point lead being the largest margin, but the men slowly came back with timely baskets and defensive stops. As a result, the game was tied at halftime, 34-34.

However, Rensselaer was able to take over in the second by shooting 56 percent from the field, which diminished the fact that the Blue Knights nailed 11 threes. The Red Hawks’ largest lead was 12, which was that of the final margin, 83-71 being the score at the end of regulation.

Freshman Ricky Philatre scored 26 points and grabbed ten rebounds on the day to lead the RPI attack, and senior Neal Wesson had a modest 21 and ten of his own as the pair combined for 47 points. Senior Michael Visker tallied 17 points for Rensselaer as well.

On Sunday, the Red Hawks hit the road to take on Williams College. The Ephs jumped out to an early lead, and looked as if they would set the tone of the game after junior Chris Shalvoy drilled three three-pointers. Turnovers, however, opened the door for RPI, and the team used a 6-2 run to fight right back. Going into halftime, after a bucket on their last possession, the Red Hawks trailed 34-31.

In the second half, Rensselaer was able to take control of the game as a result of its solid defensive effort.

Williams shot 27 percent from the field, and though it clung to a 55-54 lead with just under six minutes remaining, it was only able to score once more in the game’s entirety. RPI took the lead with four and a half minutes left in the game, and would not relinquish it. Simmons led the Red Hawks with 16 points and eight rebounds as Rensselaer would go on to win the game by a score of 64-57.