The men’s basketball team attended two tournaments and went 2-3 during the break, moving to 5-6 on the season as it finished its non-conference games and now heads into the meat of its schedule. The Red Hawks have nothing but Liberty League games from now until the playoffs, starting this Friday, when they will host Hobart College in the Robison Gym.
Traveling to Daytona Beach, Fla., between Christmas and New Years, the team dropped two games, first to Ursinius College, then Colby College in the Land of Magic Classic. The 60-78 loss to the Ursinius Bears on the first day saw the Red Hawks make just 23 points in the second half, while their opponents shot 56.9 percent overall to come from behind and beat the Red Hawks.
Holding a seven-point lead at the half, Rensselaer was led by senior Sam Simmons who made 11 points but shot only 34.6 percent in the second half. The Bears improved to 7-2 overall for the season.
On the second day of the tournament the Colby Mules improved to 6-2 with a 75-58 victory over the then 3-5 Red Hawks. Taking a dominant 38-23 lead at halftime, Colby got 21 points from its senior guard Mark Baudet while RPI was again led by Simmons, this time with eight points.
At the first round of the Trinity College Tournament in Hartford, Conn., RPI lost a close 79-74 game to Eastern Connecticut State. With an 11-0 deficit increasing to 14-3 at 14:39, the Red Hawks dug themselves quite a hole early in the game. Turning on the burners, RPI closed the gap to seven by the half thanks to an effort by freshman DJ Blakemore, and eventually tied it up after a three-pointer by senior Kris Kowalczyk and a layup by classmate Sam Zullo, though the Red Hawks soon trailed again. The team did manage to take the lead at 10:08 and played the Warriors through to until the final minutes when Eastern Connecticut pulled ahead for good. Simmons had 18 points, while Kowalczyk posted 14, and Blakemore had 12. Sophomore Ricky Philatre had eight points and made a season-high 14 rebounds.
The next afternoon, the Red Hawks met Maine Maritime Academy in the tournament’s consolation round. Simmons led the team with 22 points in the 80-72 victory. RPI worked to build a lead early, and led 34-30 at the half. The second stanza saw RPI continue to play strong as the team shot 57.9 percent from outside the arc.
The next Saturday the Red Hawks were finally home in the Robison Gym and tipped off against Southern Vermont at 2 pm. A strong showing by RPI’s players led the hosts to a dazzling 92-68 victory. Shooting 68.4 percent as a team and receiving double-digits performances from four players, the Red Hawks finished their non-conference session with a bang, improving to 5-6 while the Mountaineers dropped to 3-10.
RPI scored first and never looked back, taking a seven-point lead within four minutes after tip-off. By the half, Rensselaer led convincingly 46-28. Despite a 28-point feat by senior Mountaineer Nick Harrington, the Engineers shot 72 percent in the second half and were untouchable, scoring over 90 points for the first time since an overtime session on January 17, 2006.
