TROY, N.Y. – Junior Pat Sullivan posted a game-best 24 points, including a 4 for 4 effort from three-point range to help Hamilton College to a 73-66 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Liberty League action on Friday. With the win, the Continentals improve to 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference. The Engineers shoulder their first league loss and are now 9-5 with a 3-1 Liberty League mark.
Hamilton, which shot 48.1% (25-52) from the field and 85.7% (6-7) from three-point range in the game, saw itself facing a 30-25 deficit to open the second half of action. RPI battled back and forth in the opening stanza, but gained momentum as senior captain Mike Brion (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) led all scorers with 14 points through the opening 20 minutes.
The Engineers saw their five-point lead evaporate as the Continentals grabbed a 35-34 lead on a three-pointer by Ryan Wright (Upper Marlboro, MD/Bullis School) at 16:48. RPI charged back and the team's traded buckets until Hamilton stretched its advantage at the 12:31 mark, going on an 8-0 run behind a pair of three-pointers from Sullivan (Madison, NJ/Delbarton School) – who is the league's leading scorer.
The Continentals, who shot 83.3% (5-6) from three-point range in the second half, held its largest lead of the game at 10 (62-52) on a jumper by sophomore Eric Benvenuti (Concord, MA/Concord Academy). RPI's Joe Gibbons (Lindenhurst, NY/Saint John the Baptist) answered with a shot from downtown, but Sullivan responded with his fourth three-pointer of the game to make it 65-55 with 3:05 left on the clock.
Rensselaer cut the deficit to six (68-62) on a layup by senior Jeremy Bull (Woodbridge, VA/St. Stephens & St. Agnes School), but it was as close as it would come as the Continentals capitalized at the free throw line in the closing 30 seconds of the contest.
In addition to Sullivan, who also had seven rebounds and three steals, Hamilton saw rookie Matt Dean (Franklin, MA/Franklin) pour in 10 points and a game-best 10 rebounds. Junior Ephraim McDowell (Boston, MA/Beaver Country Day School) added nine points.
For Rensselaer, Brion and Gibbons each added 17 points. Sophomore Dan Martin (Cohasset, MA/Cohasset) chipped in with a team-high eight rebounds, while also adding a game-best five blocks.
The Engineers are right back in action on Saturday, hosting Hobart College for a 4pm tilt at East Campus Arena. Live stats for the game can be seen at http://www.rpiathletics.com/livestats. The game will also feature a live pay-per-view webcast at http://www.rpiathletics.com/webcasts. Hamilton heads to Poughkeepsie tomorrow to face Vassar, also at 4pm.