On Friday, the Red Hawks faced Hamilton College and fell by a score of 73-68.
Led by Hamilton senior Harlee Wood, who netted 12 of his game-high 16 points in the second half, the Continentals made the first basket less than a minute into game play. Junior Tim Rupp answered less than 20 seconds later to tie the game, and RPI held the lead for the rest of the period. The Red Hawks gained their largest lead of 10 points after senior Sam Simmons made a layup with two minutes left, ending the half ahead by six points with a score of 40-34.
Entering the second half, RPI was able to hold onto its advantage until a Hamilton forward scored a three-pointer, putting the Continentals up by one. A free throw from RPI junior Ricky Philatre, however, brought the game to a tie. Over the next three minutes, the Red Hawks and the Continentals battled for the lead.
After being held to just four points on two of seven shooting in the first half, Wood connected on four of eight shots from the floor in the second stanza to help turn around a 40-34 halftime deficit. He gave the visitors their first lead 54-53 since very early in the game on a three-pointer at 10:38 of the second.
Sophomore DJ Blakemore answered with a jumper that put RPI up by one, but the Continentals came back. Junior Jeremy Colon hit a free-throw line jump shot, pulling the Red Hawks to within a point with seven-and-a-half minutes to go, but another three-pointer from Hamilton brought the difference to four. Despite the next nine points made by RPI, the Red Hawks were unable to pull ahead, leaving the Continentals in the lead. They held onto this lead for the last nine minutes, but the Red Hawks were never behind by more than five points.
RPI ended the day with a loss of 73-68. The team was led by Rupp, who had 16 points and five rebounds. He scored four of eight from beyond the arc, including three of five in the first half. Simmons and sophomore Mike Brion had 14 points each, with Simmons also recording team-highs in rebounds with eight and assists with three.
Aiding Wood offensively for the Continentals was junior Jay Simpson, who finished with 13 points and two assists. Freshman Patrick Sullivan picked up 12 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Jon Ciriello recorded 10 points and nine boards.
The next day, RPI faced off against the Hobart College Statesmen at home. Simmons scored a game-high 22 points on nine of 14 shooting to lead the RPI men’s basketball team to victory. Simmons’ biggest basket came when he drilled a straightaway three-pointer with 40 seconds left in the game, to give the Red Hawks a four-point lead. This triple, answered with a pair of free throws from Hobart, cut RPI’s lead to just one with under two minutes to go. RPI was able to withstand a Hobart three-pointer with four seconds left, thanks to perfect foul shooting in the final thirty seconds from Rupp and Blakemore. Hobart’s basket cut the Statemen’s deficit to two before Blakemore hit a pair from the line to give RPI its four-point lead with less than a second remaining.
The Red Hawks started the game strong and led by as much as nine points on a breakaway slam dunk by Simmons with 13 minutes left in the first half. The Statesmen started chipping away at the lead, but RPI recovered and led 31-26 at halftime.
Hobart got its first advantage in the game on a jump shot less than three minutes into the second half. Rupp was able to get to the basket for a layup to tie the game at 39, with 14 minutes left. The teams then traded jumpers from RPI senior Kyle Jung and Simmons, who gave the Red Hawks a five-point advantage midway through the second half. RPI built up its lead to 11, thanks to a 9-3 run that was capped off by a Colon free-throw line jumper. Two free throws cut the Red Hawks’ lead to one before Simmons hit the three-pointer to regain a two possession edge.
When the final horn sounded, the Red Hawks won with a score of 65-61. Brion added 11 points and five rebounds to the Red Hawks’ attack, while Rupp had 10 points and four boards. Philatre hauled in a game-high 12 boards to go along with two points, two steals, and a block.
Following the games, the Liberty League announced that Simmons was its selection for Forward of the Week. Simmons averaged 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists in leading RPI to a 1-1 record last week. He also averaged 35 minutes of playing time, and added a block and five steals to earn his fourth Forward of the Week selection this season—his second in a row. He has started in 19 of RPI’s 20 games and is first on the team and second in the Liberty League in both scoring (16.9) and rebounding (8.1) average. His five double-doubles are also tops on the team, in addition to his 31 assists, 29 steals, and 21 blocks, and he also leads the Red Hawks in minutes played per game (29.7).
The Red Hawks boast an overall record of 11-9, with a 5-4 record in the Liberty League. The Red Hawks will be back on the court on Friday as they host Union College at home. The next day, Skidmore College will travel to RPI, and next Tuesday, the Red Hawks will host Vassar College.
