POTSDAM, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team scored the first 17 points of the game and three seniors combined for 55 points to lead the No. 24 Engineers to an 80-63 triumph over Clarkson University in a Liberty League contest. RPI is now 10-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference, while the Golden Knights drop to 3-9 and 0-5.
RPI came out strong on both ends of the floor to build what proved to be an insurmountable lead just over six minutes into the game. Senior Patrick Mahoney scored the first eight points of the contest, including a pair of three-pointers, before classmate Dom Black made a pair of free throws. Mahoney, a forward, came back with a pair of layups for a 14-0 lead and Brian Kelly finished the spurt with a three at the 13:33 mark.
Clarkson got on the board approximately 30 seconds later with a trey from Ryan Miles-Ferguson and the Golden Knights eventually cut their deficit to six points on two separate occasions. A pair of Jonny Angbazo free throws put Rensselaer ahead 26-18 with 7:46 to go in the first half and the Engineers finished the frame on a 17-5 run for a 20-point margin (43-23).
RPI's lead ballooned to 31 points (54-26) just 4:07 into the second half behind five points from Black, four from senior Mason Memmelaar and two from Angbazo. The difference remained at least 20 points until the 1:35 mark when Miles-Ferguson scored from long range.
Mahoney led all Engineers scorers with 20 points, while Black had 19 and Memmelaar tallied 16. Black added a game-high 10 rebounds and Memmelaar had seven caroms. Angbazo finished with nine points.
Miles-Ferguson scored 21 points and had seven rebounds for the home team, which turned the ball over 17 times and was out-rebounded by 16 (39-23).
Action continues for both squads on Saturday with RPI visiting St. Lawrence University and Clarkson hosting Ithaca College. Both games are league contests that begin at 4pm.