TROY, N.Y. - Will Rubin and Mason Memmelaar both scored 18 points and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team held a 38-24 advantage in rebounds as the No. 23 Engineers defeated Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) 69-51 in a Liberty League contest at East Campus Arena. RPI improves to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the league and the Tigers drop to 3-5 and 1-1.
The Engineers jumped out to a 14-8 lead in the first half - with Memmelaar scoring seven of the points - before RIT went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 16-14. Chase Lewis had a pair of three-pointers sandwiched around an Andrew Fox layup for the visitors in the stretch, which went from just under 12 minute remaining to the 10-minute mark. Rubin tied the score with a jumper and Avery Eugster put the Engineers ahead by a point, but Fox made it 18-17 for the Tigers with eight minutes to play.
After the teams continued to trade baskets, RPI got a three from Rubin and a layup from Mahoney for a 26-23 lead. Matt Caggiano hit a trey for RIT, but a Memmelaar layup, two free throws from Jonny Angbazo and a free throw from Rubin put the Engineers ahead by eight points, 31-23. Michael Young closed the half with a free throw to get the Tigers within seven points.
Rubin, a guard, scored the first five points of the second half to push the Engineers' lead to 12 points, 36-24, and it eventually grew to 14 points (40-26) on a Memmelaar layup 3:27 into the second half. RPI continued to lead by double digits, or very close to it, the rest of the way, growing its margin to as large as 22 points on three different occasions.
In addition to their 18 points, Rubin added five rebounds and Memmelaar had four, along with three steals. Angbazo scored 11 points with three rebounds and three blocks and Brian Kelly led the Engineers with seven rebounds.
Lewis and Brock Bowen both had 10 points for RIT, which got a team-best five rebounds, along with four points, from Fox.
RPI returns to the court on Wednesday when it travels to league foe Bard for a 7:30pm tipoff. RIT does not play again until January 3 when it visits Alfred State (3pm).