On January 3, RPI took on Stevens Institute of Technology. Stevens jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before freshman Ricky Philatre opened the scoring for RPI. Much of the first half, though, would be marked by a similar tone with the Ducks on top. Led by sophomore Virgil Gray II, who had 14 points in the half, Stevens would go up by as much as 17, but the Red Hawks were able to mount a charge and claw back into the game, narrowing the gap to six, 36-30, headed into the half.

Rensselaer tasted a brief lead with just under 16 minutes remaining in the second half, but it was short lived as the Ducks regained the lead shortly after. The game remained close throughout the half and final minutes, but in the end Stevens came away with the victory, 74-69.

Gray led the way for the Ducks, scoring a game-high 29 points in addition to seven rebounds and four steals. For the Red Hawks, Philatre had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Senior Neal Wesson tallied 12 points of his own while classmate Clay Hadley added 11.

RPI’s next task was Cortland on January 6. In the first half, Rensselaer had a 9-8 advantage in the early going, but unfortunately, it was the only time that the Red Hawks would find themselves with the lead. The Red Dragons largest margin in the first was 12, and led by 10 headed into the break.

When play resumed Cortland came out on fire scoring 13 straight points en route to a commanding 55-38 lead with 8:32 left on the game clock. Play would drag on to the final horn, but the Red Dragons came away with the victory, 65-48. Cortland senior Dave Maggiacomo scored 17 points, 15 of which came from behind the arc. Carson Niehoff and Dave Jutton scored 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Junior Sam Simmons did all he could for the Red Hawks, scoring a game high 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Hadley chipped in scoring a solid 11 points.

Rensselaer was back in action the next day taking on Southern Vermont College. The first half of play was evenly matched. RPI held a short lead for much of the period, their largest being eight, but headed into the half, they were up by only two, 30-28.

The Mountaineers’ used a 9-2 run at the open of the second half to claim a five-point advantage, but the Red Hawks, however, quickly found their bearings and over the final 13 minutes of regulation outscored Southern Vermont 42-25, which was good enough to give them a 12-point margin of victory, the final score being 74-62.

Junior Nick Harrington was the Mountaineers leading man scoring a remarkable 29 points in addition to 23 rebounds. His effort was not enough though, as Simmons, who had another double-double with 15 and 11, combined with senior Neal Wesson and junior Graham Gordon, both scoring 12, to lead a Red Hawk attack that was too strong on this day.

Next up for Rensselaer on January 12 was Union College in the opening game of Liberty League play. The first half was a shootout as both teams came out firing. Union took an early lead, freshman Nick DiMaggio providing the spark with 14 points in the opening frame. The Red Hawks battled back strong as they were able to cut their deficit to just one behind strong play from Hadley. The Dutchmen, however, clung to a five-point lead heading into the half.

RPI came out of the locker room strong and tied the game. Union, however, slowly built a lead all the way up to 14 with eight minutes remaining on the game clock.

Refusing to die, the Red Hawks surged all the way back after scoring 11 points and trimmed the lead to one, 74-73, with just under a minute left in the game. In the closing minutes Union was able to seize a four-point lead after a pair of clutch free throws. Wesson then went one of two from the line, cutting the RPI margin to three. The Red Hawks tried desperately to nail a three and send the game to overtime, but their efforts were futile as Union took the contest 79-76.

DiMaggio led the way for Union with 26 points. The Red Hawks were paced by Hadley who scored 16. Simmons tallied his third straight double-double with 14 and 10.

RPI’s last game of the break was on Monday versus Skidmore. Simmons was at it again scoring 20 points and grabbing 15 rebounds as the Red Hawks took the contest 62-50. Despite the Thoroughbreds’ impressive first half, in which they led by nine going into the break, RPI took it to their opponent in the second with a tremendous effort fueled by great team energy. RPI went up by as much as 14 and was able to control the lead for the remainder of the game and seal the victory.