The men’s basketball team split the weekend with a victory over Hamilton College and a loss to Hobart College. Friday’s 68-57 win in Clinton, N.Y., was the third in a row for the Red Hawks. Strong defense and consistent scoring powered the visiting Red Hawks to the win as they held the Continentals to just 34.1 percent shooting. The win brought RPI’s record up to 9-10 overall, 4-4 in the Liberty League, while Hamilton fell to 12-6, 5-3 in the league.

Scoring 34 points in both halves, the Red Hawks took a 34-29 advantage heading into the lockers. With 11:14 remaining, Hamilton did manage to tie it up at 49-49 but RPI regained the lead for good with a basket by forward Ricky Pyilatre. The win was a team effort for the visitors as they had six players score at least nine points apiece. Sophomore Tim Rupp led with 12 points and six rebounds while senior Kris Kowalczyk had nine points and four rebounds. On Hamilton’s side, it was much less of a team effort with junior Harlee Wood scoring 28 points, followed by classmate Bamunas Rozgys with 15.

The next afternoon the Red Hawks traveled to Geneva, N.Y., for a contest against the Hobart Statesmen. A tight game was decided in the final minutes as RPI just couldn’t catch up and lost 81-76. With the win, Hobart improves to 10-10 overall and 5-4 in the league while RPI dropped to 9-11 overall, 4-5 in the league.

A tight first half was capped by a 27-12 run by the Continentals as they not only gained the lead but went up to 40-28 heading in the half. Hobart’s scoring continued into the second half as they were up by 51-34 at one point. RPI went on a run of its own, coming within four points of the Continentals after a strong effort by senior Sam Simmons and freshman Jeremy Bull, but couldn’t seal the deal.

Simmons finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, and three assists. Bull and senior Sam Zullo had 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The Red Hawks return to the court this Friday at 8 pm and Saturday at 4 pm when they travel to Union College and Skidmore College.

Women’s Basketball

The women suffered through a tough weekend of play against Hamilton and William Smith College. On Friday, the Red Hawks traveled to Clinton, where they were consistently unable to find the net and finished with a dismal 24.5 shooting percentage as they lost 61-39. The victory improved the Continentals to 11-7 overall, 6-2 in the conference while the loss dropped the visiting Red Hawks to 8-10 overall, 3-5 in the league.

Hamilton’s shooting wasn’t spectacular either as it made 37.5 percent from the three-point line but were able to outscore RPI by 11 points in both halves.

After losing an early lead, the Continentals took the lead by the half and led 28-17 heading into the break. When play resumed, Hamilton jumped to action, scoring 10 quick points and pulling ahead to 38-17 with 16:57 to play. RPI never came within 16 points for the rest of the game.

Junior Elizabeth Barker led the Red Hawks with 10 points and nine rebounds.

The next afternoon the Red Hawks were back in action for a game against No. 15 William Smith. Four players hit double digits for the Herons as they won decisively 70-55 on Saturday. The win pushed the home standing Herons to 18-1 overall, and 9-0 in the Liberty League, while the fourth consecutive loss dropped the Red Hawks to 8-11 on the season, and 3-6 in the league.

Despite racing out to a 10-0 start, the Red Hawks were simply overpowered by the William Smith offense. The Herons tied things up at 15, then took the lead with 7:06 remaining in the half. In the second half, William Smith really pulled ahead, shooting 45.7 percent from the floor and outscoring the Red Hawks 43-30, while leading by as much as 21 points.

Barker had game-highs in both scoring and rebounding with 20 and 17 respectively. Senior Missy Jackman had seven points, six assists, three steals, and one blocked shot. Barker was named the Forward of the Week by the Liberty League for her fifth weekly award by the league this season. Barker leads the Liberty League in rebounds with an average of 12.8 per game. She also leads the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game.

RPI travels to Union College and Skidmore College next weekend for a pair of games on Friday night at 6 pm and Saturday afternoon at 2 pm.

Swimming & Diving

The men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams also traveled to Clinton, N.Y., for a meet against Hamilton. The men lost 121-113 while the women fell 147-94. Although the teams lost, many RPI individuals had strong showings. Sophomore Aimee Catroppa won the 200-yard medley with a time of 2:17.74, and finished second in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:12.28, and the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:31.61. Senior Kelly Owens won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:30.27.

Junior Matthew Culen won both of his diving events, scoring 276.75 in the 3-meter and 263.45 in the 1-meter event. Senior Kevin Sheridan won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:50.36 while freshman Michael Tung won the 50-freestyle in a time of 22.20.

The women’s team competes at the New York State Championships in Syracuse from February 20-23 while the men compete the following week from the 27-29.

Indoor Track

The men’s and women’s track and field teams finished a great weekend, beating out 12 and 18 teams, respectively, to sweep the Smith Invitational in Northhampton, Mass. With 194 points, the men destroyed the competition with second place College of Saint Rose scoring just 91.50 points. The women also ran away with the win, scoring 154.50 points, followed by Amherst College in second with just 92.

Senior Adedeji Akindele-Alo won the 55-meter hurdles for the men with a time of 7.74 seconds. Freshman Alec Marshall took second behind him with a 7.87. Sophomore Mike Cipollone won the high jump with a height of 1.90 meters, while freshman Alex LeBlanc won the pole vault with a height of 4.42 meters.

For the women, senior Marion Albert took the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.36, followed by Sarah Hinz in 27.31. Sophomore Lauren Brown won the 1,000-meter run in 3:11.12, while classmate Kathryn Markowitz won the 3,000-meter run in10:38.23. Freshmen Connor Ahlborn and Jenna Covill took first and second in the weight throw with distances of 14.59 and 11.63 meters respectively.

The teams return to action next week when they compete in the Liberty League Championships in Canton, N.Y.