Last Friday, the men’s basketball team traveled to Skidmore College to face the Thoroughbreds in an intense game.
The Red Hawks led for the majority of the first half, which ended with a one point RPI lead, 30-29. With the final minutes counting down, the game still remained very close; Skidmore’s junior forward Bobby Langford led the 12-0 run and pulled the Thoroughbreds to 61-59, with 30 seconds left in regualtion. RPI regained the lead when sophomore DJ Blakemore went the length of the floor for a lay up to tie it 61-61. However, he was fouled and injured on the shot, and sophomore Jeremy Bull sank the go-ahead free throw to give the Red Hawks a 62-61 lead. But that was not enough to claim the game. The Thoroughbreds scored on a lay up with 14 seconds left to play, ending the match with a loss for RPI, 63-62. Sophomore Mike Brion had a total of 13 points and seven boards while senior Sam Simmons collected 10 points and four assists.
The Red Hawks were back on the court the next day to face the Union College Dutchmen. Union jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first three minutes of the contest and held an 18-11 advantage with 11 minutes left in the first half. The Red Hawks went on a 14-0 run in the next five minutes to claim their own seven-point edge, 25-18. In the second half, RPI was able to put together another high scoring run, placing themselves a full ten points ahead of Union.
The Dutchmen cut the deficit to five points twice, but the Red Hawks led with as many as 13 points with less than two minutes remaining. When the final buzzer sounded, the Red Hawks had won by 11 points, 61-50. Simmons scored a game-high 23 points and posted a double-double with 11 rebounds. He also had three steals and three assists. Bull added eight points, with junior forward Ricky Philatre chipping in with nine rebounds.
Following this past weekend’s action, Simmons was recognized by the Liberty League as the Forward of the Week for the third time this season. He averaged 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in leading RPI to a 1-1 record. Also averaging 34.0 minutes of game play, he added two blocks and five steals in the two games. In addition, Simmons has started 17 of RPI’s 18 games and is second in the Liberty League in scoring with an average of 16.8 points per game. He also leads the league in rebounding, with 8.1 boards per game. Simmons also has 27 assists and 24 steals, while leading the Red Hawks in minutes per game, 29.1 and blocked shots, 21. His five double-doubles are also tops on the team.
The Red Hawks currently stand in third place in the Liberty League behind St. Lawrence University and Hamilton College, which are tied for first. RPI holds a 4-3 conference record with a 10-8 overall record. RPI will host Hamilton and Hobart College this Friday and Saturday, respectively.
