Schenectady, NY—Rensselaer’s John Van Schaick connected on two free throws with 13 seconds remaining and Union missed a three-point shot with eight seconds left as the Red Hawks held off the Dutchmen, 66-63, in a Liberty League contest at the Vinair Athletic Center.
The loss, which broke the Dutchmen’s three-game win streak, dropped the Garnet’s overall record to 6-6 and their circuit mark to 1-1. The Red Hawks improved to 8-4 and 1-0 in the league.
Paris Moore, who had a game-high 20 points, produced the game’s seventh tie, 61-61, with a layup and follow-up free throw at 3:45. Neal Wesson’s one of two free throws with 3:12 left gave the visitors a one-point advantage before Tom Schneider’s layup with 2:13 showing gave the Red Hawks a 64-61 advantage.
Brian Scordato’s layup with 25 seconds brought the Dutchmen back to within one, 64-63, before Van Schaick produced the winning points from the charity stripe.
Matt Zepernick contributed 14 points to RPI’s effort while Wesson added six and Schneider pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. Scordato finished with 15 makers for the Dutchmen while John Cagianello and Devon Bruce each scored a dozen points. Bruce led Union on the boards with 10.
RPI 66, UNION COLLEGE DUTCHMEN 63 RPI (8-4//1-0) Paris Moore 7-20 5-5 20; Matt Zepernick 5-9 2-2 14; Neal Wesson 4-6 2-4 13; Tom Schneider 3-6 0-0 6; John Van Schaick 1-4 4-4 6; Kori Massey 1-2 0-0 3; Graham Gordon 1-3 0-0 2; Joe Johnson 1-1 0-0 2; Michael Visker 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 13-15 66. UNION COLLEGE DUTCHMEN (6-6//1-1) Brian Scordato 4-9 5-6 15; John Cagianello 4-11 2-2 12; Devon Bruce 4-9 4-5 12; Joe Mackey 3-10 0-0 8; T.J. Ramey 3-7 0-0 7; Chris Murphy 2-7 0-2 4; Kyle Grimm 1-3 0-0 3; James Rahill 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 22-60 11-15 63. RPI........................... 26 40 - 66 Union College Dutchmen........ 28 35 - 63 3-point goals-RPI 7-18 (Neal Wesson 3-3; Matt Zepernick 2-4; Kori Massey 1-2; Paris Moore 1-6; John Van Schaick 0-2; Tom Schneider 0-1), Union College Dutchmen 8-27 (Joe Mackey 2-4; John Cagianello 2-5; Brian Scordato 2-6; T.J. Ramey 1-4; Kyle Grimm 1-1; James Rahill 0-2; Chris Murphy 0-4; Devon Bruce 0-1). Fouled out--RPI-None, Union College Dutchmen-None. Rebounds-RPI 40 (Tom Schneider 12), Union College Dutchmen 31 (Devon Bruce 10). Assists-RPI 11 (Neal Wesson 3), Union College Dutchmen 13 (Joe Mackey 3). Total fouls-RPI 18, Union College Dutchmen 12.