The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute men’s basketball team opened its season in the first game of the Gettysburg Tournament, defeating Neumann, 61-52.  With the victory the Red Hawks are now 1-0 on the season while the Knights fall to 0-1.

Two players hit double digits in points for RPI, including 16 for senior Tom Schneider (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin).  Classmate Paul Halas (Sea Grit, NJ/St. Rose) added 13 points for the victory.  Schneider and Russell Herman (Congers, NY/Clarkstown North) both recorded a game-high eight rebounds.  Ronnie Fields of Neumann led all scorers with 17 points.

The Red Hawks outshot the Knights 13-6 in the final six minutes of the first half to take a 31-26 lead into half-time and never looked back holding tight to the lead through the second half to the finish.

Rensselaer will face Gettysburg or Moravian on Saturday at either 2pm or 4pm.