The RPI men’s basketball team rounded out the regular season on the road this Friday and Saturday, with two league games versus Hobart and Hamilton on back-to-back nights. With their record on the season standing at 13-10, the Red Hawks really wanted two wins to ensure a spot in the Liberty League Playoffs, now that their year is coming to an end.
On Friday against the Statesmen, RPI took control early and would lead for the duration of the first half thanks to a stellar offensive attack with contributions from multiple players. Junior Michael Visker scored 11 in the first half, and the Red Hawks as a team knocked down seven three-pointers.
Even though RPI was up 10, Hobart was able to cut the lead in half before the intermission after John Grazioli drained a three. Headed to the locker rooms, the score was 35-30 with Rensselaer on top.
In the second half, both teams went back and forth at each other by trading baskets. Midway through the half though, with just under 12 minutes remaining, Hobart tied the game at 49. Only 30 seconds later, the Statesmen took their first lead of the game, as the Red Hawk attack began to waver.
Over the course of the final 15 minutes of play, RPI saw a nine-point lead slip away and turned into a seven-point deficit. The men were out scored 31-15 over that span, and ended up losing by a final score of 69-62. Hobart shot 56 percent in the second half compared to RPI’s 12.5 percent, which was a large reason for the comeback.
Grazioli led the way for the Statesmen with 18 points in addition to seven rebounds; he was the game’s high scorer. Kevin Riley also chipped in for Hobart with 13. Junior Sam Simmons was the high man for Rensselaer with 15 points in conjunction with seven boards in just 19 minutes of play coming off the bench. Sophomore Dan Rourke also played well with 12 points and three steals.
On Saturday, the Red Hawks took on Hamilton. In the opening minutes, play was very evenly matched as both teams battled hard through multiple lead changes. The Continentals, though, went up by one at the 8:34 mark, and would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the half.
However, RPI was down only six at the break, 33-27, thanks to a balanced offensive attack once again. This time it was senior Neal Wesson who fueled the Red Hawk offense—scoring 16 points in the first half.
When play resumed Hamilton jumped out to a double-digit lead rather quickly, and things would only get worse for the Red Hawks. A 10-point deficit grew to 15, and then 20. Before the Rensselaer men knew it and no matter how hard they tried to make a run, they were in a hole that was almost insurmountable.
Ultimately Rensselaer lost by a final score of 86-64 as Hamilton had four players reach double digits in scoring. Senior Tsakani Ngobeni was the catalyst for the Statesmen scoring a game-high of 22 points on seven-of-10 shooting, and had six rebounds and five assists. Senior Zarrette Rogers added 13, Nick Jones scored 11, and Dave Alston had 10 as Hamilton shot 52.6 percent from the floor.
RPI was not dominated in every facet of the game. As a team, Rensselaer only had two fewer rebounds (33-31) and one less free throw attempt (19-18). However, it was just one of those nights as the Hamilton offense could not be held in check.
Wesson led the way for the Red Hawks by scoring 22 points and grabbing seven boards. Simmons recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 13 and 10.
With the two losses this weekend, RPI ends the regular season with an overall record of 13-12 while going 6-8 in Liberty League play. The men now will prepare for the Liberty League Playoffs, as the enter as the fourth seed. The Red Hawks will take on top-seeded Hamilton on Friday night in the Semifinals.
