Hamilton (18-6 overall, 11-3 league) captured its second straight league regular season title and will host the league championships tournament on Feb. 23 and 24. The Continentals, who are ranked fourth in the East region by the NCAA, will play the fourth seed Union College in one semifinal on Friday. St. Lawrence University and Vassar College will play in the other semifinal and the winners meet for the tournament title on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Rensselaer (13-12, 6-8) lost its last three games. Hamilton leads the all-time series against the Red Hawks with 42 wins and 34 losses.
Ngobeni made 7 of 10 shots from the field, including 4 of 6 from three-point range. He is 12th on the program's all-time list with 1,352 points. Zarrette Rogers '07 dropped in 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Nick Jones '07 added 11 points and nine rebounds. Dave Alston '10 came off the bench to score 10 points and dish out four assists.
Neal Wesson '07 scored 16 points in the first half and finished with 22. Wesson added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sam Simmons '08 posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Continentals led 33-27 at the half and then exploded for 53 points in the final 20 minutes. Hamilton shot 67.9 percent (19-28) from the floor, including 8 of 15 from three-point range, in the second half. Rensselaer trailed 52-44 with 10:10 left, but two consecutive three-pointers by Ngobeni pushed the deficit to 14 points. The Continentals led by double-digits the rest of the way.
Hamilton shot 52.6 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from beyond the arc for the game. The Red Hawks shot just 37.7 percent (23-61) from the floor.
Rensselaer vs Hamilton College 02/17/07 4:15 p.m. at Scott Field House; Clinton, N.Y. At Scott Field House; Clinton, N.Y. HAMILTON COLLEGE 86, RENSSELAER 64 RENSSELAER (13-12, 6-8 LL) Neal Wesson 9-18 0-0 22; Sam Simmons 6-15 1-3 13; Michael Visker 3-5 0-0 7; Devin Galvin 1-5 3-4 6; Sam Zullo 2-4 1-2 6; Graham Gordon 1-5 2-2 4; Clay Hadley 0-3 3-4 3; Tim Rupp 1-2 0-0 2; Kyle Jung 0-1 1-2 1; Kris Kowalczyk 0-1 0-0 0; Dan Rourke 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 11-17 64. HAMILTON COLLEGE (18-6, 11-3 LL) Tsakani Ngobeni 7-10 4-4 22; Zarrette Rogers 4-8 3-4 13; Nick Jones 4-6 2-3 11; Dave Alston 3-6 2-2 10; Kyle Dumas 3-7 0-0 8; Harlee Wood 3-4 0-0 6; Jay Simpson 2-6 0-0 5; Ramunas Rozgys 2-2 0-0 4; Jeff Bernardi 1-2 0-0 3; Rich Kohnke 1-1 0-0 2; Joe Manns 0-3 2-5 2; Rob Toste 0-1 0-0 0; Tim Shaw 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-57 13-18 86. Rensselaer.................... 27 37 - 64 Hamilton College.............. 33 53 - 86 3-point goals-Rensselaer 7-17 (Neal Wesson 4-7; Devin Galvin 1-4; Michael Visker 1-1; Sam Zullo 1-2; Dan Rourke 0-1; Clay Hadley 0-2), Hamilton College 13-30 (Tsakani Ngobeni 4-6; Kyle Dumas 2-6; Zarrette Rogers 2-3; Dave Alston 2-5; Jeff Bernardi 1-2; Nick Jones 1-2; Jay Simpson 1-3; Joe Manns 0-2; Harlee Wood 0-1). Fouled out--Rensselaer-None, Hamilton College-None. Rebounds-Rensselaer 35 (Sam Simmons 10), Hamilton College 37 (Nick Jones 9). Assists-Rensselaer 13 (Neal Wesson 3), Hamilton College 18 (Tsakani Ngobeni 5). Total fouls-Rensselaer 17, Hamilton College 17. A-470