Box Score

TROY, NY (January 19, 2010) – Rensselaer, the Liberty League leader in 3-point field goal percentage, took full advantage of timely long-range shooting and a 56 percent performance from the floor, to hand the Vassar College men's basketball team an 87-54 loss in Liberty League play Tuesday evening at East Campus Arena. RPI secured the victory by shooting 71 percent from behind the arc in the first half and better than 60 percent from the floor in the second half. 

The Brewers drop to 2-11, 0-3 on the season and will look to snap their 11 game losing streak, the longest since the 2003-04 season, with Liberty League road contests against Hobart on Friday at 8:00 p.m., followed by a 4:00 p.m. tilt against Hamilton on Saturday. RPI improves its record to 10-3, 2-1 and meets Hamilton on Friday night and Hobart on Saturday afternoon. 

The host Engineers came into the game ranked first in the Liberty League in 3-point field goal percentage and second overall in field goal accuracy. An offense that had bested the 100-point mark twice and 90-point plateau once this season, was in complete gear against the Brewers. In addition, a defense that leads the Liberty League in scoring defense (62.4 ppg.) and scoring margin (+16.2), was in full throttle as well. In a balanced offensive game, RPI placed three players in double figures and had 12 players figure into team scoring. Defensively, RPI held the Brewers to 33 percent from the floor for the game.

The contest was essentially decided in the first half when the Brewers were saddled with a 3:02 minute scoring drought while the Engineers went on an 11-0 run for a 16-9 lead, getting scoring from four different players. Vassar had built an early 9-5 lead with 16:05 to play following a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Caleb McGraw, but that momentum and offensive flow hit a road block and RPI capitalized. The Engineers made three of their five first half 3-pointers in the last 11 minutes, putting the Brewers in an all-too-familiar catch-up mode. 

Sophomore forward Ethan Shanley connected on a 3-pointer – just his third of the season -- with 13:23 to play and those points brought the Brewers to within 16-12. A jumper by junior guard Devon Luongo four minutes later had the Brewers within striking distance, down 23-20. However that margin was the closest Vassar would come. Thanks to adept 3-point shooting, the Engineers closed out the half on a 20-8 spurt and held a 43-28 halftime lead. 

RPI scored the first seven points of the second half, building a 50-28 lead. That margin ballooned to 65-33 midway through the half, ending any Vassar hope of a comeback. 

Vassar was led in scoring by McGraw with 20 points, his 12th double figures scoring effort of the season. Freshman John Donnelly, who tallied Vassar's first four points, finished with 13. Junior center Chris Whitney had six points. McGraw led the Brewers with five rebounds and Luongo earned a career high six assists in a season-best 20 minutes of action. 

RPI was led by Mike Hammond's 12 points in 15 minutes of action. Tim Rupp tallied 11 points, all of which came in the first half and DJ Blakemore also had 11 points. Rupp led all rebounders with eight, followed by Hammond with six.