SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Sophomores Matthew Garside and Tanner Tedesco both scored four points in overtime and 21 for the night as the Garnet Chargers outlasted Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute by a 79-77 (OT) score to pickup a huge Liberty League victory on Friday evening at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
The win is very important for Union (11-9, 7-6 Liberty League) in the race for the postseason, vaulting the Garnet Chargers into a fourth-place tie with Hobart College and one game ahead of St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University in sixth with five conference games remaining.
 
Tedesco just missed a double-double with 21 points and nine assists, including a 4-of-7 mark from long range, and Garside matched his classmate in points and three-pointers, hitting 7-of-12 shots from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Junior Christian Dufort provided a huge spark in the second half to finish with 13 points and six boards, while sophomore Jack Plesser chipped in 12 points and seven caroms. Fellow sophomore Brendan Reid continued his excellent play on the glass with a career-high 13 rebounds to lead all players as well.
 
Dylan Matchett led four players in double figures for RPI (16-4, 10-3 Liberty League) with 16 points, followed by Chuck Clemons with 14 points.
 
Plesser's layup with 15 seconds left tied the score at 70 and set up one final possession of regulation, with the Union defense forcing a last-second three by Matchett that missed the mark and sent the game to overtime. The Garnet Chargers scored on their first two possessions of the extra session, with a Garside layup and a Tedesco three putting Union up 75-72 with 4:03 left.
 
A Matchett bucket put RPI back up 76-75 and the teams traded free throws before Garside got to the line and made both to put the home team up 78-77 with 53 seconds remaining. Plesser had a huge block on the next possession that eventually resulted in a second missed shot and one Tedesco freebie at the other end to make it a two-point game with 17 ticks left. Union again played strong defense and tipped the ball out of bounds with six seconds remaining, and all RPI could manage was a long-range shot from Clemons that came up short as the horn sounded.
 
Rensselaer used a 14-0 run midway through the first half to take a 19-10 lead and eventually built up its largest edge at 30-17 after a Clemons layup with 6:08 to go in the opening frame. RPI went into halftime up 12 at 40-28 thanks to blistering 64.0 percent (16 of 25) shooting in the opening 20 minutes. Union shot just 33.3 percent (10 of 30) in the first 20 minutes of action.
 
But Union turned the tables to start the second stanza, hitting 10 of its first 11 shots – including a 5-of-5 mark from long range – to storm back and take a 55-49 lead with 11:20 to go. Dufort sunk a trio of triples on the way to 11 points overall during the 27-9 run, which got the Garnet Chargers right back into the game. Rensselaer grabbed a 68-63 edge with 3:04 to go, but a Garside three-point play and two Plesser free throws tied the score entering the final two minutes, setting the stage for the late-game drama that went the way of Union.
 
Union shot 51.7 percent (15 of 29) in the second half to finish the game at 43.5 percent (27 of 62) from the field, and also hit 13-of-16 free throws and an excellent 12-of-23 long-range attempts. RPI connected at a 49.1 percent (28 of 57) clip from the field and 47.6 percent (10 of 21) from long range, but missed on 7-of-18 free throws to help provide the difference.
 
Union will be back in action tomorrow with another key conference matchup against second-place Vassar College beginning at 4 p.m.